Ruins Upon Her Skin
by Zaidita
Summary: The war is over and the Wizarding World is healing, but things are not so easy for Draco. With a new dark army gathering in the shadows and his parents on the run from those they betrayed he is left alone with a dangerous job and a vampire for a partner
1. The Interview

**If you read my previous posting of this story : **I have redone everything, including the characters, so if you are kind enough to read again, I think you will enjoy it and find it very different.

**Disclaimer **: All characters recognized from the Harry Potter series are NOT mine in any way, nor do I know them.

* * *

**Chapter 1 : The Interview**

The castle shook around him violently as a loud crash filled his ears. He turned around to the chaos behind him that he was trying so desperately to escape. Three Death Eaters were fighting three students each. Even though the nine students overwhelmed them by numbers, the three Death Eater's experience overwhelmed the student's own.

It took his eyes a few moments to adjust to the brilliant flashes of light in the darkened corridor around him. The castle gave another violent shudder from beneath him, sending him and a second student to the ground.

"Dean!" two female voices shrieked when he did not move.

The Death Eater took advantage of Luna Lovegood's fear for her fallen friend, and hit her back with a spell. She too withered to the ground gasping for breath, leaving the battle one to one. Luck was with the students however, and a stunning spell hit the Death Eater who had taken Luna down.

The bright lights did not relent, even though it was now only two Death Eaters, and seven students. The castle continued to shudder as loud shouts and explosions emitted from the distance and all around. There was the sound of shattering glass followed by the shout of a falling Death Eater. He had fallen through the window. This left three more students free and they rushed to the final Death Eater, all except one: Ginny Weasley. Draco watched as she ran to her two fallen friends, unsure of why he still stood there.

"Are you the son of a Death Eater, or a blood traitor?" shouted the final Death Eater, having spotted Draco while battling the six students.

He saw Ginny glance from the body of her fallen friend to him. Her brown eyes seemed determined to destroy anyone in her way. The look made Draco shiver.

"Help me, Draco," the masked Death Eater commanded, as he broke free of a rope that had been cursed upon him, and slashed his wand in the air, cutting a student's face as he tried to get closer.

Draco had a wand, but not his wand, only a wand he had won off another Death Eater who had not recognized him and would have killed him. Yet, he could not seem to bring himself to wield it. There was a loud screech, like a thousand nails being dragged across a blackboard from the crashing of spells.

Draco covered his ears, and spotted a second Death Eater turning the corner and eyeing little Ginny Weasley, whose red hair was hanging over Dean like a protective curtain.

"Hey," Draco shouted.

His own ears rung as his voice seemed to echo back to him from a long distance. No one heard him. No one glanced back to him as Luna joined the battle unaware of the new threat. "Hey!"

The Death Eater had his wand raised, and pointed to Ginny's back. Unexplained panic corrupted Draco as the Death Eater drew closer. His panic pushed Draco forward. Still, Ginny did not look up from Dean whose eyes were open now.

"Stupefy!"

The wand in Draco's hand gave a violent shudder as it forced the bright ball of light from its tip and into the Death Eater 's chest. He could hear the brief bellow of traitor from his left as there was another thud, but Draco was too stunned himself to look. All he could see was the frozen Death Eater before him, his mouth still open from the beginnings of a spell, and the red head between them both. He had not thought before he had shouted the spell, yet he had done it. He had saved Harry Potter's girlfriend, and she sat there looking to him and then back to the frozen Death Eater in utter bewilderment. Around him, the other eight students gawked as well. Neville, Cho, Dean, and a few other faces, except for Luna.

It was as if they all had been hit with Draco's stunning curse, save her. Luna walked over to him on breezy steps and placed a hand over his still raised one. Softly she pressed upon his hand, bringing the arm and the wand down. He turned to look into her face and blissful smile, and she began to open her mouth.

Draco's eyes flew open to the darkness of the night. His dream was still vivid in his mind as he sat up and ran his hands down his face in agitation. Even though the dream was more than a dream—a distant memory of what actually happened—he had yet to remember what Luna said to him. He had heard her speak, had seen her lips move, yet he couldn't seem to recall what she had spoken.

He threw the covers back and picked up his wand, and like every other time he had dreamed such things he pushed it aside. He quickly threw on his muggle clothes, a simple pair of jeans and long sleeve shirt that was tighter than any robe he had ever worn. Muggle fashion had always been common, but not amongst pure bloods like himself. Robes had been the style that distinguished wizards from simple muggles, but now after the Dark Lord's demise, the line had been blurred and robes were more for special occasion, or uniforms.

He looked at himself in the full-length golden mirror grudgingly before stepping out of his room. He hastefully slammed the door shut, waking up a nearby portrait that lined the hall's wall. He ignored the shout as he passed, "Keep it down! Sane people are trying to sleep!"

Rushing down the stairs, he ran into the kitchen where his meal was sitting prepared on the table. He began to eat quickly glancing at the clock every so often. It was almost two thirty in the morning, but time was not all the clock displayed. The clock had six hands, each with a name inscribed on it. He looked at his own name that pointed at the words _at home._ Three other hands pointed at "deceased", but the only name he glanced at was his aunt, Bella Lestrange. The other two hands with his parent's name hovered over the words, _mortal peril_. Now their names never pointed to anything else besides that, traveling, or lost. The day it had fallen on _mortal peril_ for the first time, had been the last time Draco had seen either one of them.

He left the empty plate on the table for the house elf to clean, and left the Lestrange manner behind him. Once he was off the door step, he apparated to the meeting place. He could hear the echo of the loud pop once he arrived, and almost had a heart attack. Staring at him through the night, were two emerald green eyes with narrow slits.

"Perfect timing Draco," the green eyes spoke.

Draco calmed his rapid breathing and asked, "Are you . . . Are you Leticia?"

Light emitted before her and temporarily blinded him as his eyes adjusted to the night. Once he could look at the source, he was amazed to see the light hovering above her hand without the aid of a wand.

"That is correct, are you ready," she asked.

She was enshrouded in shadows, leaving only her pale face and the area surrounding the ball of light to be touched with the light. Her green eyes were elongated and pointed like cat's eyes, not to mention the slit instead of a round pupil. Her lips were blood red and curved into an amused smile. Protruding from behind those thin lips were two flawless fangs. She _was_ a vampire!

"Um, what am I suppose to do," he tried to keep from sounding like the coward he knew he was.

"Didn't Gordon tell you," she tilted her head to the side, spilling white curls over her shoulder and down the length of her side until shadows engulfed them. She wasn't wearing robes either he realized with relief. She was instead wearing a tight black dress that looked as if it had once had a second layer covering the thin one, and that layer had been shredded leaving the fabric to hang loosely off her. She wore no jewelry save one fancy ring with a green stone on the hand that held the light.

"He mentioned a test," Draco said feebly under the weight of her stare.

"Did he not say what kind of test," she giggled amused by some private joke Draco was not in on.

Draco couldn't be sure if his possible future boss had or had not explained what type of test. Once Gordon had mentioned that he would be testing with a vampire, Draco had been so engrossed in his own surprise he had not heard another word. He had never met a vampire before, although he knew his father as well as other death eaters had worked along side them once upon a time. To top it off, he knew very little about vampires other than they needed blood to survive. That was enough to keep him from ever getting too curious about them in the past.

"No."

"Well to see if you get the job," she said, "and be my new partner, you have to prove you can handle it."

Draco looked at the night around them trying to deduce what exactly she meant from their surrounding, but saw nothing save the shadows of a forest in the background.

"What is the job exactly," he asked, eyeing her cautiously.

Her smile widened and her green eyes flashed with laughter. "Why, we hunt magical beings that have broken the law of course!"

"What," Draco gawked at the shadowed woman.

His stomach began to bubble with nerves as he realized he had made a mistake. He had been hoping for some stupid, but safe desk job. Not a job that was one step short of being an Auror!

"You did apply to the Department of Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures! Well, I hunt vampires to be more specific," her face was alight with laughter as he continued to gawk in disbelief. "However, if things are slow we can have work with goblins, or giants. I have to say that doesn't happen too often."

When you are the son of a known death eater, work is hard to come by, and having a psycho as an aunt probably didn't help either. The few followers of the Dark Lord that had escaped that final battle four years ago had burned down most of Draco's home. With his aunt's death, her will was found and all her possession left to her closest living family, the Malfoy's, but since she had artifacts cursed with dark magic everything was taken into possession by the Ministry of Magic under Kingsley's rule. Draco and his parents had been living off of their own money, which was more than enough, until about two years ago when their own bank account was frozen as well, leaving them with only the small amount that the Ministry had deemed safe enough to pass on to the Malfoys, which included the Lestrange estate. The house alone was cleared out of anything deemed as "cursed by dark magic", and the rest was pilfered for money by his parents before they had fled.

Now all he had left to his name were a few gold coins, some annoying portraits, an annoying house elf, and a kitchen of pots and pans. This left Draco desperate for money, and when this was the only job that contacted him, he didn't waste any time on going to the interview. However, he didn't recall signing up to be a bounty hunter! All the tiny ad had said was, "Ministry of Magic, Department of Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures now hiring."

Honestly, he never believed they would even call considering he was the son of Lucius Malfoy, known and (still) hunted death eater. Yet, there he was. In front of a vampire. Being asked to hunt another vampire.

Fun.

"Not many people want this job," she shrugged, her smile falling. "Wizards consider the department as a dead end job. Others think that this job is for people who are not good enough to become Auror's, so you can understand our hesitation in advertising exactly what it is we were hiring for."

Draco nodded, never remembering in his entire history of attending school someone saying, "I want to be a vampire hunter when I grow up!"

"If you would like to leave, by all means I will not hold you back," she smirked at him. "But I should inform you, the pay is much higher than you could believe."

Draco looked behind him, into the darkness as if there was some invisible door that would take him back to his warm bed and away from this entire vampire mess, then back to her. He reminded himself that he had no money, and he already knew the figures he could earn on this job, and it was more than enough for him, even if it wasn't as much as an Auror. However, the reason why the pay was so good was because he could be killed.

"What do I need to do," he repeated again.

Leticia smiled, before putting out the light in her hand. Even though it took his eyes time to adjust to the dark, he didn't lose her blazing green eyes. "Turn around."

Draco did as he was told, turning back to the night's darkness, except now it was not so dark. Now muggle street lights beamed only a short distance away. Their light flooded onto empty streets of sleepy homes. A few houses had lights burning through the window, but no people were to be seen.

There was a ripping noise that startled Draco so much, he jumped into the air. It was as if someone had taken hard fabric and ripped it inside his ears. Appearing as if in thin air before him was Leticia. Draco knew when Wizards apparated, there was a loud popping noise, the same one that a house elf made when apparating as well. He had never imagined it would be different for a vampire, but then again he never really thought about it.

"Another vampire will be apparating right outside of the street lights. You should have a very clear position from here. I want you to stun him, and keep him from escaping," she said, all the playful light drained from her eyes as her tone became serious. "Do _not_ kill him!"

"When he apparates, will it be as loud as that," he half shouted from anger at having been so frightened.

The smile appeared again on her face, but she continued on in the same business tone. "Yes."

She moved from his line of view and pointed to the empty distance between them and the line of light posts. "Time is an issue here. Once he appears, he will surely black out the entire muggle village. The moment he appears he is at his weakest since he will still be recovering from his travel. Stun him before the lights go out and we can no longer see him. That is your test."

Draco nodded, numbly, trying to gather himself. He was absolutely terrified. He was going to be stunning a vampire! A vampire! Quickly he called up the memories of fear from when the Dark Lord had been living in his house. Suddenly this vampire didn't seem so bad.

"It is almost three," she whispered softly from his side. "That's his favorite hunting time."

Draco gulped as he was bombarded by a series of imagined images. Vampires draining the blood from lifeless corpses. He shuddered and Leticia must have sensed it because she quickly whispered, "Concentrate!"

He could see the muggle lights beginning to flicker as if in warning that something was coming. No sooner had this thought passed through his mind, he heard the same ripping of the night's air so distinctly different from a wizard's apparition he knew it had to be a vampire. A shadow instantly appeared amongst the lights. One foot was in the air ready to continue forward.

"Stupefy!"

He saw the shadow crumple beneath the faint light before the foot ever could touch the ground. He heard a sound from Leticia that was a mix between surprise and satisfaction as she started to walk past him, lazily. "Very good!"

Only after her voice faded into silence, did Draco realize exactly how hard he was panting. His heart was still thumping away against his chest, and didn't seem to be ready to slow. There was a rip through the night's air and Leticia was suddenly far ahead, closing in on the body and moving her hands strangely as if she were casting a spell. Draco quickly apparated across the field and tall grass, landing only a few feet behind her.

"Good evening," Leticia said casually to the shadow on the ground as if she were passing a person on the street.

Draco came to stand beside the body of another vampire. He seemed unable to move, save his blood red eyes that glanced at Draco accusingly before returning to Leticia. His long black hair was disheveled, and his robes lay about him in a twisted mess.

"You are getting old Sebastian," Leticia giggled softly, nudging him with her toe. "Taking you down was almost two easy."

Sebastian's red eyes glared at her as she let out a long, disappointed sigh. She returned her attention to Draco who was still assessing the vampire on the ground at his feet. "Good work Draco."

"Thank you," he muttered. "So . . . do I get the job?"

"I would say so," she answered with a small chuckle. "Although, I must say our Minister of Magic is not to thrilled about it, but what is that to me?"

"Kingsley," Draco asked in confusion, returning his gaze to her.

She was watching him earnestly, curiously. Her gaze was so intense he felt squeamish, but he forced himself to hold her gaze. Even as she answered him, her intense gaze never faltered.

"He is not to thrilled to have the son of a death eater working in the ministry, especially a death eater who is still on the loose; but you cannot choose your parents now, can you?"

"I suppose not," Draco mumbled finally breaking her gaze and returning the subject to the vampire. "What do we do now?"

"We await the arrival of dementors-"

"Dementors?"

"I hope you don't have a problem with them," there was a hint of amusement in her voice. "I hear they have a great influence upon you . . . humans."

He looked at her and saw she was still staring at him with that same intense gaze, but there was something strange with what she had said. "You mean . . . they don't bother you?"

She shook her head, "Dementors are . . .dark creatures. I suppose vampires are not much different than they are. Do not misunderstand, their presence does not go unnoticed to my people, or me but we are able to keep our wit about us unlike you wizards, and muggles. I hear it gets cold and it's like . . . all the happiness and hope is sucked out of you . . . unless you cast that pretty silver animal of course."

Draco was greatly intrigued by what she was telling him. He hadn't really learned anything about vampires in school, but what little he did know never hinted at something so interesting. He had learned how to defend against one back in Defense Against the Dark Arts, but now so long after school he couldn't really seem to recall any of that.

"It's called a patronus," he informed her.

"Can you make a patronus," she asked.

"I . . . I have trouble with that spell," he admitted, and instantly regretted it and quickly recovered with his own question, "If dementors do not bother vampires, why do we need them tonight?"

She smiled at him in a playful amusement and for some reason it bothered him. It made him think of the way a mother smiles at a small child that has just asked a really stupid question. "Our magic doesn't have much of an effect on them, so escape is a little more difficult than if we had wizards escort him away."

Draco looked at the stunned shadow of a man below him and eerily remembered Snape who had looked a great deal like a vampire. A small cloud of guilt fell upon him as he remembered how Snape had made an unbreakable vow to protect and help him his sixth year. No one believed he would have been able to kill Dumbledore by himself, and they had been right. He had had the chance. He had had his wand raised and Dumbledore was disarmed, but he was too weak. Dumbledore was a good man, a great man and he just couldn't kill him.

He shook his head in an effort to shake away the memories. His thoughts had drifted too far now, so he tried to return them to vampire at his feet. "So what is his crime?"

"Feeding off humans," she said. "He is one of the last of a coven who believe they have a right to feed off muggles, and even wizards if they are brave enough. Isn't that right Sebastian?"

She looked down to the stunned vampire, and smiled mockingly. Draco wondered how long his spell would hold off on the vampire, never having cursed one, let alone met one, before. Dragons and giants would take several wizards' spells to stun them, and they didn't last as long. He was about to ask Leticia about the subject, when the shift of power changed. He was just turning his gaze back on her, and away from Sebastian, when everything about her demeanor changed. She had turned to him expecting his unsaid question, her hands pulling on his hands where a fire red stone sparkled from a ring. That's when her eyes grew wide like two green moons. Her mouth opened, sucking in a deep breath of air, before she crumpled to the ground before him.

He heard her gasp, as her body began to twitch in pain. He could hear her whimper and gasp in agony, but the sounds told Draco she was attempting not to scream out in pain. He fell to his own knees in panic, momentarily forgetting about Sebastian, and shouted over her, "Leticia, what is happening?"

She rolled in distress, but said nothing. A yelp of pain that she still fought to suppress escaped, and her jaw snapped shut. Her jaw looked rigid and he feared it would break with the pressure. Her eyes kept darting below at something, and Draco tried to pin point what was causing her pain, and then he saw it. Her hand that seemed to have been pulling off the ring, was now in Sebastian's clutches. It looked as if he was trying to crush her fingers.

Draco pointed his wand at the hand that was binding her to him and shouted, "Relashio!"

Sebastian's own yelp of pain, joined Leticia's whimper as his fingers were pried from her by some invisible force. He now seemed master of his body again, and as he pulled his arm back in pain, he tried to sit up. Draco, obscured by Leticia's body that was attempting to pull itself up, shouted the stunning spell again, but Sebastian was ready. With a simple wave of his hand he countered his curse, dissolving the bright colored lights into water. Draco tried twice more, but he simple waived them away as got to his feet.

"Stop him," Leticia shouted at Draco with her now hoarse voice. "He can't apparate, but that wont last long! Go!

As she pushed him away from her, he got to his feet to chase after him. He tried once more in vain to cast another stunning spell, but it was simply dissolved into water as they ran back across the field from which he had stunned Sebastian in the first place. Draco could hear his own heart pounding in his ears as he chased after the caped man. His own breath was loud in his ears, as he feared another fight for his life. "Incendio!"

He pointed his wand at the tall grass ahead of him where the vampire was running. Sebastian heard him, turning to face him now as a wall of fire formed behind him. It lost control, spreading much further than Draco had intended in the wild weeds. Sebastian, his features now alight with the flames and much darker than before, did not seem too concerned. Draco saw his arm swipe through the air, a light sparkled from a ring on his index finger, and something knocked his wand from his hand with a painful slapping sensation. He saw it fall into the grass before him, safely out of the fire's range that was still spreading.

Draco saw the hand move again, but was quick to dive to the ground, his heart pounding in agonizing fear. A bright jet of light narrowly missed his head as he fell to the ground and grabbed his wand. The hand was moving again and a new spell was hurtling towards him. Draco rolled away as it struck the ground where he had just been. The ground exploded upon contact, sending dirty chunks of earth into the air to rain down on Draco. He aimed his wand and shouted another spell that missed entirely. As it missed, Sebastian stepped back into the spreading fire and disappeared momentarily in their flames.

Draco stood up, the flames so close now they licked at his body. "Aguamenti!"

A jet of water emitted from his wand, but it was only powerful enough to clear a narrow path for him. He could see the retreating figure of Sebastian and he eagerly followed after him.

The fire eaten field was beginning to end, and to meet it was a thick line of trees. Slowly Draco's fear began to subside as determination to capture Sebastian took over. He was beginning to realize that this could possibly be his future, if he didn't die tonight. Growing up he had fantasized about far less dangerous jobs, the most dangerous being a quidditch player.

Silently, Draco began to cast a few minor spells in Sebastian's direction. Their effect would not be as powerful, but he was eager to slow him down. Some missed as the fleeting creature continued to run, sending small explosions that only barely missed Draco and created small craters. However right at the edge of the forest, one of Draco's spells struck him square in the back sending him toppling forward.

Draco caught up with him as he managed to roll himself over and untangle from his cape. Draco pointed the wand threatenly in his face, "Don't move!"

"My . . . my . . . Draco Malfoy, is that really you," Sebastian chuckled softly under his breath. "You look so much like your father . . . Gone traitor have we?"

"Shut up," Draco shouted, a light emitting from his wand and hitting him in the mouth which locked closed.

Even though he momentarily could not open his mouth, he still made a throaty, laugh before he could talk again. "My, my, my . . . what would Lucius say?"

"That's none of-"

Draco could not finish the sentence before the hand with the ring was moving. Draco's was not fast enough to respond either, and his own spell missed when his wand was knocked aside from the blast of Sebastian's spell.

He fell to the ground, his chest cut open wide and blood beginning to seep through, but his shirt was undamaged. He had a brief flash back to bathroom stalls and Snape's face, but before the memory could fully take hold Leticia was standing over him.

He groaned as her cold hand touched the wide, but shallow wound. He heard her muttering as a warm sensation filled his chest. As she took her hand off his chest, he could tell the skin was back even if the pain was still there.

"Come on," she said hurriedly. "My spell to keep him from apparating will wear off soon!"

She pulled him to his feet and he staggered, trying to clear his head that was still spinning. In the few seconds it took him to regain his motor control, Leticia and Sebastian were both deep in the woods and he could hear the ripping noise again.

He apparated himself further into the woods, knowing too much distance was between them now for him to try and run. He could hear the ripping of the night's air much closer to him now, and on his left he saw bright flashes of white light. He ran forward, adrenaline now taking over and washing away the pain and fear that would other wise hold him back.

The lights grew brighter, and faded, but once they returned he realized he had ran into the thick of them. He saw a Leticia in front of him, her entire body lighting up as if lightning were crashing around them. A gold light sped towards him, zooming past and behind. He turned to see a flash of Sebastian as the spell hit a silver shield. He shouted a spell Draco did not know.

"Protego," Draco shouted, and the spell deflected.

There was a rip and Leticia was beside him. "Diffindo!"

The light from his spell sped behind Leticia's own spell. Sebastian was able to deflect it, but Draco's spell hit his left arm, cutting it severely.

"Impedimenta!"

Sebastian fell out of the way of Draco's spell and narrowly missed Leticia's. He peered out from behind a tree and Draco aimed at his face, "Stupefy!"

It missed and Sebastian sent his own spell that Leticia countered with a fluid motion of the hand with her ring. Draco casted over her shoulder, "Petrificus totalus!"

His spell hit a tree behind where Sebastian had been only moments earlier, and exploded. A bright red light was hurtling towards him. "Finite Incantatum!"

There was a loud blast as his spell stopped Sebastian, and a ripping as Leticia apparated into the shadows. There was another flash of light, and he could see the cape of Sebastian. "Stupefy!"

Sebastian moved out of the way, sending Draco's spell to collide with one Leticia had casted. There was a loud crash, much like thunder, as it exploded sending Sebastian into a tree. Draco sent another stunning spell his way, but it was countered and red light that was speeding towards him.

He avoided it by diving behind a tree. Peering out from behind it he could see a jet of water weaving from between the trees and hurtling towards Sebastian. Sebastian held his hand up creating a shield from the water. "Stupefy!"

Draco's spell was waived off yet again and frustration over came him as another red light was hurtling towards him. He put up his own protective shield that caught the spell, but shattered like glass. As it did he gave it one more try. "Stupefy!"

This time his stunning spell hit him as he turned to deflect it, leaving him frozen with his hand in the air. The ring also seemed frozen with a light shinning from the red stone within it.

The ripping sound tore beside Draco and he turned to see Leticia apparating. She looked rather pleased as she began to move towards Sebastian, "We have to take off his ring."

Draco nodded in understanding, although he wasn't sure why they needed to do such a thing. He moved to follow her, but they both froze as the night's air ripped once more to expose a tiny creature, smiling at them.

Her raven black hair was pulled into a long French braid with a blood red ribbon. Her violet eyes were wide and gleaming in the moon light. Her face was the same round moon that Leticia's was, but there was something threatening in her beauty.

Draco lifted his wand defensively, but Leticia's hand shot forward, blocking his way. As her hand moved, she made eye contact with their intrude, "Good evening Sati."

The tiny girl, and girl because she looked no older than sixteen, smirked at Leticia and sung, "Good evening sister."

"Is that your sister," Draco whispered, his wand still raised at the ready.

"Hardly," Leticia answered darkly, as Sati giggled.

Her innocent, bell like laugh made Draco uneasy and he could feel his wand pulsing for him to make a move. As if she could sense this, she tilted her head to the side with an expectant gaze.

"What do you want," Leticia finally said after she could take no more of the silence.

"I hope you forgive me," the small girl said, all the while slowly moving backwards without looking at the frozen man behind her. "But I need to borrow Sebastian."

"For what," Leticia scoffed at the casually in which she spoke to her.

"Oh you know," she shrugged, snaking her hand into the unraised one of the frozen Sebastian. "Mayhem, and mischief."

She shrugged with a child like giggle before waiving. "Goodbye Lettie."

With a ripping noise, they were both gone.

* * *

**Author's Note : **Yes, I did start this story and take it down because I had to focus on school and I wanted to redo my main plot. So I have changed this first chapter entirely for those reason. I am sorry for the delay in ALL posting, but I was doing bad in math (but I passed with a lot of hard work) and then it was Christmas, I hope everyone had a great holiday. I hope you enjoyed the first chapter, special thanks to **Linkkinparkk** for betaing and **The Daylighter** for helping me form the ideas for the story and looking over it.


	2. The Truth about Severus Snape

**Happy New YEAR!**

**

* * *

**

**Chapter 2 : The Truth About Severus Snape and Dumbledore: An Interview with Harry Potter**

_ONE YEAR LATER_

Draco couldn't say he had a lot of friends. In fact, he didn't think he really had any at all. A few people greeted him by name whenever he was in the office, but he didn't call them friends. However, there was  
something odd about today. As he walked through the halls, headed into the elevator, and made his way to his small cubicle, it seemed that people could not take their eyes off him. A few times he swore he  
even saw them whispering behind papers about him.

He tried to ignore the feeling of being under constant surveillance and shuffled some papers around hastily, unable to find the specific report he needed most. As he began pulling out drawers in his desk, a folded note entered his tiny cubicle and began circling his head. Not in the mood to play with such trivial things, he slapped it away and continued his search. His slapping the note only made it more persistent, and it started dive-bombing his head.

"What do you think he wants?" a voice asked in the open doorway of his cubicle.

He momentarily peered over his desk to see Leticia standing in his doorway watching the paper zoom around Draco's head and taking dives every few seconds.

"Who?" Draco asked returning to his search and steadfast ignorance of the flying note.

"Kingsley of course," Leticia groaned.

She had a bad habit of starting in the middle of a subject, assuming Draco already knew what she was talking about. He shook his head in annoyance, finally finding the files and papers he was looking for. "I don't know? Hair?"

"Funny," Leticia said with no emotion as Draco returned to his seat, and began to go through the files. "That note is from him," she added, eyes still watching the note as it circled Draco's head again.

She grabbed the note from the air, unfolding it and forcing Draco to take it from her. He read the contents and quickly sent a reply, before letting it return to its sender. He then returned to his search through the files, pretending like Leticia was not there.

"Well?"

"What?" Draco snapped in retaliation.

"What did it say?" she pleaded, leaning over his desk so he couldn't continue to shuffle through papers or avoid eye contact.

"He wants to see me," he replied annoyed with her persistence and her need to stick her nose into other people's business. "Nothing more, nothing less."

"About what? Is he going to fire you?" she asked.

Draco yanked a file open angrily. "And why would he do that?" he seethed, trying to read around Leticia's lithe frame.

"I don't know? When are you going?"

Draco sighed, slamming shut his files. "Now. I can't get this damn paper work finished with you in here anyway."

"Mine is done already," she shrugged, acting as if their last case had not been almost impossible.

He stood up, ignoring her again as he left behind her calls of, "Hope you don't get fired, because I actually like you."

He ignored her teases, feeling confident the meeting had nothing to do with such a thing. However, a knot of worry began to creep into his chest, especially when he recalled their first—and only—meeting. It had been his first day in the office, a year ago to this date exactly. He had come to sit before the Minister of Magic, Kingsley Shacklebolt, who seemed too busy to receive him, and extremely impatient to leave him.

"I'm going to make this short Draco Malfoy," he had said. "I personally took your father to Azkaban, and everyone knows he was a Death Eater. I do not trust you, but that doesn't give me enough reason to keep you from being hired, or so I have been informed. I suggest you be on your best behaviour because I will personally be keeping tabs on you, and I will not hesitate to have you fired, first chance given."

Draco had said nothing, although a few choice words had come to mind. He had figured it best not to gamble with his job, and a threat towards the Minister would without doubt come with more than firing. Instead, he'd left the office silently, and had not personally crossed paths with the Minister again, although he knew he had kept his promise and checked up on him often. Reluctantly, Draco arrived at his door for a second time and knocked.

"Come in," Shacklebolt's voice was deep and reassuring, two things that surprised Draco until he realised that the Minister probably didn't know who was at the door. If he had, his tone might have been different.

Draco opened the door to see the large, black, bald man sitting at his desk bent over papers. He gestured for Draco to sit without looking up at him, and Draco did so. He had a strange feeling of being sent to the  
headmaster's office, although this was certainly not his old headmaster, Dumbledore. No there was a distinct difference between the bald man with the gold hoop earring, and the long white-bearded man he had once tried to kill.

The Minister was silent a few more moments as he finished signing something, before acknowledging Draco with a grimace that seemed more normal than the welcome he had received earlier. He made no move to return the same acknowledgement, so Kingsley Shacklebolt began.

"I am impressed to see that you have been doing so well in your department," he said with a false smile. "Gordon tells me you would have made an excellent Auror. It's strange how those who have grown up  
in the thick of the war make such good fighters."

"Not really," Draco shrugged, and not daring to be too rude he further explained, "we kind of had no choice."

"True, true," he sighed.

He waved his wand, and a magazine began floating towards them. It landed on the desk, and Draco saw the words The Quibbler scribbled across it. Suddenly, he realized it was the same magazine he had seen everyone carrying this morning. He didn't understand what was so great about it either. It was just a bunch of nonsense about mythical animals that didn't exist. Kingsley picked up the magazine and handed it to Draco, "I wanted to discuss an interesting article I found this morning. I am sure you have read it too, correct?"

He took the magazine unwillingly, and its pages flipped themselves to the article Kingsley wanted him to read. He wasn't surprised to see Harry Potter's face glancing out of the picture at something he couldn't see. His hair was still the same messy black over the same dorky glasses and bright green eyes. And even though he couldn't see it in the picture, he knew the lightning bolt scar was still there on his forehead too. Alongside Harry Potter in the photograph was a young woman with long blond hair and a dreamy expression. He recognized her immediately: Luna Lovegood.

Under the picture of the two of them talking was the article title: The Truth About Severus Snape and Dumbledore: An Interview with Harry Potter. It seemed that the article was a companion story to the up and coming book that Harry Potter had been interviewed for; one that detailed his year living on the run and consequential fight with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Draco hadn't given it one thought, and was definitely not interested in reading that, or this article.

"I haven't read it," Draco said, shutting the magazine. He didn't bother to hide his displeasure, sliding the magazine back to Shacklebolt. He didn't want to read what Potter's thoughts on Snape were, and he certainly didn't need to read about "the truth". He didn't need to. He had seen Snape kill Dumbledore before him. And yeah, he knew the rumours were that Snape was really working against the Dark Lord the whole time, but what was it to him? He was dead now. The Dark Lord was dead now. He couldn't have cared less if Snape had really been a dancing fairy that blinded the Dark Lord to death. It was all over now, and had been for five years. It could stay in the past.

"Well, you should. Your name is mentioned," the Minister said, flicking his wand patiently and letting it fall to the article again.

Draco felt uneasy as he forced himself to look once more at the article. He skipped the beginning paragraphs, and started reading under the dividing title: Dumbledore's Death. Draco felt his insides twist as he forced his eyes to read the print beneath them. He knew that his name would have to appear there. Where else would it be?

"Harry," it began. "I was there personally that night fighting against the Death Eaters. I remember the Order was there as well and no one knew how they arrived, or what really happened after. In fact, a year after that the Ministry tried to blame you for Dumbledore's death. It was only until recently that everyone found out it was in fact Severus Snape, but you have recently started petitioning to have his portrait hung in the Head Master's office of Hogwarts? Why would you want to help the man that murdered a man so dear to you?"

"The best way to explain this is to start with a controversial statement. Dumbledore wasn't murdered," Harry's words filled the page and Draco felt as if he was fighting the urge to vomit from nerves. "Severus Snape did not murder Dumbledore. He wasn't an innocent man, but he did not kill Dumbledore. He worked alongside Dumbledore from the day my mother died, right until the day he died. As I've said before, he grew up with my mother, and loved her. He asked Dumbledore to save her when he found out his actions may cause Voldermort to go after her. When Dumbledore couldn't protect her, he asked Snape to protect me.

"Snape was a changed man after her death, although you would never have known it from his sullen behaviour [laughs] and dedicated his life to serving Dumbledore, no matter how difficult his instructions to Snape seemed. He fought Voldemort right by the Dark Lord's side, pretending to be a loyal follower."

LUNA: "So, if Snape didn't murder Dumbledore, who did?"

HARRY: "Snape killed Dumbledore, but it wasn't murder. Dumbledore ordered him to kill him, because he was already dieing of a curse. He broke a spell by Voldemort, but breaking the spell had cursed him, and although Snape had bought Dumbledore some time on earth, he would still die. Dumbledore used this in his plan.

"The plan was elaborate, and had already seen Snape move up the Death Eater ranks to sit alongside Voldemort. Snape was feeding information to the Order, while giving Voldemort a mixture of fake and true leads in order to keep himself and the Order safe. But the most important job he did, especially in the months leading to Dumbledore's death, was keep a young student safe."

Harry must have been doing a lot of interviews, Draco snorted. He told the story so well.

"Voldemort had entrapped a family, and forced a student at Hogwarts to become a Death Eater. The instructions given to this student was to kill Dumbledore. If he didn't succeed, he would be killed alongside his family. Dumbledore knew the boy would not succeed, knew Voldemort intended him to fail, knew that Voldemort was punishing him for his father's failure. Dumbledore ... Well, he was a good man. He knew this student wasn't a killer, and he didn't want him to become corrupted by the task.

"Dumbledore asked Snape to look after this student and make sure he was kept safe and away from danger.

"And through all this—through every instruction to do with Dumbledore's death—Snape fought against it. I think ... I think he believed he would find a way out of it, find a way to cure the curse Dumbledore had that was killing him, find a way around it, but he didn't. He didn't want to kill Dumbledore, but so much rode on it, that he had no choice. He did what he had to do for all of our safety."

LUNA: "Harry, who was the student you mentioned?"

HARRY: "Draco Malfoy."

Draco slammed the magazine shut, jumping to his feet in rage. Who was Harry Potter to tell the world his secret? No one alive knew it, beside his parents and Harry Potter. Everyone else that had been there that night—or had already known—were dead now, so who was he to tell the world? Who was he to make everyone hate him? Who was he to give everyone another reason to turn against him, because now everyone knew the truth? Those who hated Death Eaters, and carried out vigilante attacks, now knew he had been one and would hate him for it. Those who had admired Death Eaters, and supported their cause, would hate him because he had not done it. He hadn't read the rest that followed, but he knew what it would say. He knew what it would lead to.

It would say that Dumbledore was right. It would say that he had given Draco a chance to escape Voldemort and come to his side. It would say that Dumbledore promised to help hide him and his parents. It would say also say how Draco had lowered his wand and how he had not killed him, because he couldn't. He had wanted to believe Dumbledore, and he had wanted him to hide him, but he didn't have the chance. The others had come, and it was too late.

"Are you going to fire me now?" Draco seethed at Kingsley, whose face was blurred from the angry tears he fought to hold back, "because Harry Potter says I was a Death Eater? He had no proof – "

Kingsley raised his hand, and Draco couldn't continue. His rage was too strong for him to be able to form a sentence. His throat burned, and his eyes stung as he fought off tears of rage. Kingsley took his silence as an opportunity to speak.

"I already knew Draco. I had spoken with Harry when you first were hired, but he didn't believe you would be a threat. He said if his parents were alive and were in danger, he would have done anything to save them."

Draco stood in the middle of the office stupidly, staring at the grave face of Kingsley. He had managed to keep his angry tears from falling, but he wasn't sure if he would hold out. Draco fell to his chair helplessly wanting to hate Harry, but unsure if it was him he hated, or himself. He thought back to the first day Harry had joined school and how he had tried to make friends with him, but had been rejected. That was the day he decided Harry Potter was his worst enemy. Now, he was defending Draco?

"What do you want from me?" Draco finally croaked.

"I have to make a statement to the Daily Prophet. Reporters are waiting for me now to answer their questions about why a Death Eater is working in our offices," Kingsley gave a tired sigh. "I don't want you speaking to any reporters, do you understand Malfoy?"

Draco made no gesture, or said a word that indicated he was so much as listening to the Minister. He just sat there, his mind blank and tired as his hands clutched The Quibbler. Kingsley continued as if Draco had said yes, "The Ministry will handle this. I want you to continue your work, and where ever that Dark Mark is ... Keep it hidden."

Draco said nothing, his eyes involuntarily glancing at his sleeves that hid that mark under bandages.

Kingsley let out a sigh and said, "I wish there was a way to remove such a mark - "

"Yeah me too," Draco said bitterly, "but I didn't have a choice. He was going to kill my family."

"I know," Kingsley said, pity in his voice that annoyed Draco; he didn't want anyone's pity.

"Can I go now?" he asked.

"Not yet," Kingsley said. "Harry has asked me to get your signature on this petition to put Snape's portrait in the Head Master's office."

"Fine," Draco said grudgingly, still clinging to the interview in his hand.

With a wave of his wand, a parchment appeared in the air above him. Harry's name was at the top of the list, followed by his two closest friends—Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger—and then the Minister's name himself. The paper was so full of names after that, making the parchment so long it had to unroll itself to give space for Draco to sign under a name he did not recognize.

"Can I go now?" he asked once he had signed with the quill that, too, had appeared in thin air.

"Not quite," he grimanced a smile as the paper rolled itself up and vanished. "I have one more matter to discuss with you. Your parents."

Draco stood up and was ready to bolt out the door unwilling to talk about such a subject, but before he could the chair beneath him lurched forward knocking him right back into the seat. Kingsley pretended as if this had not happened and continued. "They are on the run, correct?"

"Yeah," Draco snapped angrily. "And I don't know where they are!"

"Of course you don't," Kingsley said calmly. "I am not so much interested as to where they are, but why they are running."

Draco straightened in his chair as Kingsley's stare bore right through him. He knew he was going to have to answer, but he didn't want to. "What do you mean?"

"Your parents' trail was a ... controversial one, I know. With Harry Potter's testimony about their change of heart, we were able to pardon your mother, but your father was still in motion when he ... left. He had no reason, I am sure he would have been pardoned too with Harry Potter on his side."

Draco found no reassurance in Kingsley's words.

"I need to know who they are running from Draco. I know it is not us."

"Death Eaters," he finally answered. "They heard rumours that Death Eaters were forming under someone else. They aren't worried about them being able to bring back ... back ..."

"Voldemort," Kingsley said the name for him, and Draco cringed.

"They are more worried they will attack them since they betrayed him in the end," he finished, feeling furious.

His parents were not safe anywhere. The Death Eaters would kill them on sight for their betrayal. The Aurors would arrest them. What else could they do but run?

"Draco," Kingsley said. "This is very important information. If Death Eaters are gathering - "

"It is just a rumour," Draco cut him off before he could finish reprimanding him. "And even it is true; they will not be able to bring him back."

The Minister gave a long sigh. His face was lined with worry and age, but he said nothing.

"May I go now?" Draco repeated yet again.

"Yes," he said. "Thank you for your time."

Draco didn't hesitate in getting up. He tried to waste no time in getting to the door so Kingsley would not be able to question him further, but he failed.

"Draco," Kingsley called as his hand found the doorknob.

He reluctantly turned to look at the Minister. "I just wanted to inform you that your new focus, as well as Leticia's, is to capture Sati."

"I already got that order a week ago," Draco tried to keep the resentment out of his voice, but could not.

"An Auror will be working the case with you," he continued.

"What?" Draco said in agitation, letting go of the knob now. "She is a vampire! A magical creature! That puts her under our jurisdiction!"

"The Ministry has been hunting her for centuries now," Kingsley's deep voice dropped a few dangerous octaves. "We want her caught. Dead or alive. An Auror will be reporting to you as soon as he returns from his time off. That will be all. You may leave now."

Draco restrained himself from slamming the door, but he didn't hide the agitation on his face. His annoyance with the morning so far was only deepened by the stares directed at him as he returned to his floor. When he arrived back to his cubicle, he was annoyed to see Leticia was still standing in his office, deep in thought.

"What did he want?" she asked serenely.

"To tell me we were getting an Auror to help us hunt down Sati," he snapped at her, returning to his desk.

"Really," she didn't sound as annoyed as he was. "Most interesting. I wonder who it is."

Draco chose not to respond, hoping she would take the hint and leave, but she didn't. Instead, she stood before his desk so she could be easily seen. He knew she wanted something just by the way she was looking at him. He tried not meet her bright green eyes, but it was hard.

"Don't use that vampire hypnosis stuff on me," he shouted.

She laughed, "I'm not doing anything Draco! It's not my fault my beauty is irresistible."

He scoffed figuring the fastest way of getting rid of her was by finding or what she wanted. "What do you want?"

"You moved too slow."

"Leticia, how many times have I told you? I can't read your mind. You can't start in the middle of a story and expect me to know what you are talking about!"

"Granger!"

"Granger?"

"Granger," she repeated. "In the Creature Division. You know the one you get all red in front of - "

"I do not get red," he said over the top of her words indignantly, but she continued without stopping to listen.

" - and you try to avoid her, but she's accepted a proposal of marriage from that funny red-headed man who comes by sometimes . .. Westley - "

"Weasley," he corrected her. "And it took him long enough. She's been working that one for years."

"That's cruel," she laughed, "but jealous people usually are cruel."

"I am not jealous," he snapped.

"Right," she said in a mocking tone.

"Look, I am not jealous," he said standing up, sending the article he had carried away from Kingsley's office to the ground.

Leticia seemed not to have noticed as she reached over and picked it up. She shook her head and put the magazine back on his desk. "She is moving off our floor too, sad really. She is transferring to the Law Department."

"Great," Draco pretended to shuffle through papers. "Can you leave now? I have work to do."

Leticia sighed, knowing a lost cause. She left him to pretend to flip through cases related to Sati. He was so annoyed with all the news he was getting, he couldn't even pretend to read the words before him. Why would he care if Hermione and Ron were getting married? Big deal. And, who was Harry to tell everyone he had been forced to be a Death Eater? Maybe he didn't want the world to know. Why did he have to get a job at the Ministry too? Harry, and Hermione were both there. Stupid! Stupid!

It took him twice as long to finish his paper work with the way his eyes and thoughts kept returning to the issue of The Quibbler that lay on his desk. Once it was finally done, he packed his things and left for the day. The rest of his afternoon was spent on his couch, alone, finishing reading the files of Sati, and glancing at The Quibbler, which he had stupidly brought along with him. On the front page Harry Potter's face smiled as he posed for the picture alongside a dreamy Luna Lovegood, who had taken over her father's paper it seemed. 

To keep his distraction to a minimum, he threw the already read files on top of the magazine. He pulled out the last file to be read and sat back. The year was seven years after Draco's own birth year, the month was October and a rare event was noted on the file. It was a blue moon, a time noted to all magical creatures as a time when magic seemed to be at its highest concentration. The location was in South America, in a city Draco did not note of high importance. Sati seemed to love the hunt in South America, even if she was not originally from there.

He flipped the page, and began reading the report. It felt oddly as if he were reading a horror story. The report talked of mangled bodies of servants, pictures he made a mental note to not look at even though they were there. The killings were characteristic of Sati in every way. She killed the female first, quickly and painlessly, but saved the man for last and fed from him. The deaths were always gruesome, but never messy. The house elf that had served the family in this case had died after the arrival of officials. According to the statement the house elf had been ordered to protect the seven year old child of the house, or die trying, which she did.

The child was never found, and the house had been burned. Draco turned the page once more, wishing he had read the details of the case in his cubicle rather alone at his home. The next page had assortment of pictures of the victims. A light skinned man, whose origins were from Spain, frowned at Draco under dark brown hair. Under his picture was the name Alan Alacron, his status of pure blood wizard, and the word deceased.

Beneath his picture was a beautiful women with long, wavy, black hair. Her dark eyes shined through the picture, as she smiled. Her name was Candela Alacron and her status was half blood witch. Her origin was Spain as her husband had been, and the word deceased followed.

Beneath her picture was the picture of a round faced child. Her big brown eyes smiled curiously out of her frame, before looking around for someone else. Her hair was long and wavy like her mother, but her skin was not nearly as dark. Her name was Seraphina Alacron with the origin not of Spain, but of the town where the report had been made. She was half blood, and the words 'missing; never found' were scribbled beneath her as she silently giggled.

Draco closed the file, not daring to look at the photographs that followed of the crime scene. There came a knock on his door after several minutes of silence, in which he struggled yet again to keep his eyes from The Quibbler. He crossed the gray room and shouted, "Yes?"

"Draco let me in," Leticia's voice answered.

He did as she said. She rushed in, letting herself pick a seat before informing him, "Reporters are watching your house."

Draco crossed hurriedly over to the window to take a glance in disbelief. Sure enough, standing outside, were several men in long robes one he recognized from his time in Hogwarts. He closed the curtain to find Leticia struggling with the radio. "It works better with a wand."

"Really? Let me get mine out," she stated sarcastically, continuing to stroke it with the hand that brandished the fancy ring. This ring, he now knew, was her wand.

The radio finally responded, making a mixture of voices as she searched for the channel she had been tuning the radio for. Once she had at last found it, Draco sat down to listen. "After the interview with Harry Potter, people were shocked to find out that a known Death Eater, Draco Malfoy son of Lucius Malfoy another known Death Eater, is currently working at the Ministry of Magic and has been for a year. The Minister of Magic himself, Kingsley Shacklebolt, held a conference this afternoon to address people's concerns. These are his words."

There was a silence before Kingsley's low and reassuring voice filled the speakers, and Draco's room. "When Draco Malfoy was hired, I took every precaution. I personally went and spoke with Harry Potter on the matter, who informed me that Draco Malfoy used to be a Death Eater."

There was a pause in Kingsley's voice as the crowd gasped and a few of them shouted out incoherent questions, or statements. In a few seconds, they calmed down and the Minister continued. "Harry Potter also informed me why Draco Malfoy became a Death Eater, as he has explained in his interview. If he did not, he and his parents would have been killed. He also said that I should give Draco a chance. I did that, and Draco has proven very valuable to our Department of Control and Regulation of Magical Creatures. He has even brought in magical creatures that once helped Voldemort himself."

Draco turned the radio off. He didn't want to hear anymore today; he had heard enough. Harry was petitioning for a man who killed Dumbledore. Harry had stuck up for him. Harry had been the reason he was allowed to work. Harry Potter was a freaking saint, but Draco didn't need, or want his help.

"I guess you've already read the article," she asked.

Draco only grunted in reply.

"Me too," she said standing up. "But I didn't come here to tell you that. I have better news. I've found Sati."

Draco looked up, today's news already far from his mind. "Really?"

"Well, I haven't found her," she shrugged, "but I have found Sebastian, which means Sati isn't far behind."

Draco rolled his eyes. Within the past year, they had encountered Sebastian a total of seven times, and each time Sati had arrived and saved his ass. Draco really hated Sebastian and his cocky attitude too. "Do you think they found whatever they were looking for?"

"I think so," she said. "We make our move in a few hours, so get your butt in order and move."


	3. The Mental Institution and the Muggle

**Chapter 3 : The Mental Institution and the Muggle**

Draco leaned his heads against his knees, trying to keep the vomit down. A cold sweat was dripping on his forehead, and his breath was coming out in shallow gasps. His heart was pounding, and his arms felt like jelly. He was sure if he tried to stand, one of two things would happen. One, he would either throw up. If not he would surely collapse  
under the weight of his own panic. Every time they went after a new target, he would get like this, but tonight seemed more intense.

He would always feel panicky. It would be hard to breath and his heart felt as if it would fail to continue beating. Of course, this would be just fine for him. Then he wouldn't have to worry about a vampire doing this job for him. He knew now that turning into a vampire was almost impossible, although there was dark magic that could make a human turn into a vampire; but if that was the case his soul would be lost and only his body would be used. It was somewhat like creating an Inferi. However, there were other things they could do to him. Some of it he had experienced firsthand in his first year of work, others he had only learned from Leticia's stories. He hoped to keep it that way.

"Are you ready?" Leticia's voice came to him from a distance.

He looked up, surprised to see her standing over him. She was watching him curiously. "This is the worse you have ever looked. I told you not to read those files."

Draco stood up, running his hands through his hair, which was no longer slicked back as it used to be. Now it stuck to his forehead in a sweaty mess. "I'm fine."

She giggled, always amused by how bad he lied about how terrified he was. She straightened, and he could see the changes upon her face. Her pale face-that made him think of the moon-was sombre and stony. Her eyes were narrowed and focused. There was no hint of laughter within them anymore. Where Draco's face was set into a mask of panic, hers was set into a mask of determination.

"Let's go," she said eagerly.

They both left his cubicle, checking the time to see it was nearing eight-forty. That meant it was two-forty in the morning where they were going. Draco struggled to regain his composure and calm his beating heart as they arrived to their boss's office. It took them two minutes to get past the security spells guarding the office.

"This must be the portkey," Leticia said pulling out her watch to check the time as they stepped in.

"Couldn't make it more obvious could he," Draco let out a nervous chuckle that seemed to ease some of their tension pulling his muscles.

Sitting in the middle of the desk was an empty box of his favorite candy that had been marked in large bold letters THIS IS THE PORTKEY.

"Grab on," Leticia said taking hold of the box and Draco followed.

It only took a moment of standing their awkwardly before Draco got the feeling his boss had messed it up again. As he opened his mouth to speak, he felt his insides being pulled as he was pressed through nothingness. Then, just as it had began –without warning- his feet hit the ground with an aching pain.

"This can't be right," whispered Leticia to the night's air.

Draco halted in his tracks, taking a look at Leticia's shocked face. They were standing on a worn, paved road that led to a tall brick building. It was two flights high, and had tall-narrow windows that exposed white lights and empty hallways from what Draco could see. Nothing immediately surrounded the red brick building. There was nothing but  
clean cut grass on either side, in front, and behind of it. A dark backdrop of trees lined the horizon further behind. Draco turned to see distant lights from a city not too far away.

"This is a Muggle mental institution," Leticia said in bewilderment as she looked at Draco. "What would either of them being doing here?"

"They wouldn't," Draco said turning to the city lights behind them. "It would be beneath them. Are you sure you didn't get the location wrong?"

Leticia opened her mouth to respond, but the only noise either of them heard was a loud ripping through the night's silence. The noise was like a detonator as bellowing, terrifying screams began to erupt within the building.

"She always likes to make an entrance," Leticia murmured to herself before vanishing from his side.

Draco apperated into the building himself, and was surprised to see within those few seconds of her arrival utter chaos had ensued. Bodies dressed in white ran by him from all directions. Their bare feet slapped against the cold marble floor as they pushed past him without truly seeing him. Mixed in were large, strong looking men in blue uniforms trying to calm the running crowd of people who were escaping from the open doors that lined the halls and led to empty rooms.

Above, there were still screams of agony that chilled Draco's insides and made him want to return to the safety of his own home. Red began to fill his vision as red lights began to flash lazily in the white halls. Mixing in with the screams of the people around him now was the high pitch call of some type of alarm. It stained the running white bodies, making their clothes look red, and seemed to upset them more. They seemed to know what direction to head now, and instead of running from room to room and in random direction, they all began to flee past and behind Draco.

As the crowd thinned in the narrow hallways, he saw the red eyes of Sebastian at the end of the hall. "Good evening Draco. I didn't expect to see you here."

Draco didn't respond to the leering smile, raising his wand while trying to clear his mind. He was no expert at silent spells, but he had been practicing every day for almost a year and all for this. He would need this advantage against someone as experienced as Sebastian who was almost two hundred years old.

There was a howl of rage from above that Draco recognized as Leticia's. Sebastian used this distraction to his advantage. Draco dodged Sebastian's spell, hiding behind an open door. The spell crashed into the wall at the end of the hallway, causing a minor explosion. Silently, Draco aimed around the door and fired a stunning spell that was reflected back at him after hitting Sebastian's shield.

"Diffindo!"

Draco cut off the door and sent it flying towards Sebastian. With a graceful circling of Sebastian's arms, the door narrowly missed him and flew into the wall behind him.

"You will have to do better than that Draco," Sebastian laughed wildly, before sprinting off down the hall behind him.

Draco followed rounding the corner, sliding on something slippery. It was lucky too, because as he fell a spell flew right past where his head had been, and hit the wall with a blast that sent small chunks of brick flying. Draco regained his composure and followed Sebastian into a room. As he entered he sent a blind spell flying, but it was deflected by a wave of Sebastian's hand and sent flying into a non-moving photo. Sebastian entered through another door, closing it behind him.

Draco blasted his way through the door, shielding himself from an expected spell as he entered the next room. Sebastian was waiting for him there and with a slicing motion of his hands, a wall of fire divided him from Draco and caused him to come skidding to a stop.

The fire grew and grew until Draco could no longer see Sebastian behind them. He tried to put them out with a simple water spell, but the flames only seemed to feed on it and continued to grow. After a few more pointless attempts, Draco was forced to turn and leave the way he had entered. He returned to the last hallway they had been, and followed it around the building. Most of the screams were silenced now, but an occasional scream, breaking, or crashing sound emitted from above.

He skidded around a corner where blood was pooling. He didn't dare glance at the object it was coming from, and hurried up a nearby stairs. As he rounded a corner on a flat surface, he was ambushed by a powerful spell that lifted him off his feet and sent him slamming into the wall behind him. His vision blurred as he saw a body running through a doorway above the stars. There was another loud blast and the building shuddered around him.

He staggered to his feet, his back and head searing with pain, but continued up the stairs. His heart pounding, he aimed his wand around the corner and prepared to silently stun anyone who crossed his path. There was an unconscious Muggle on the ground, but no blood. Doors were open and a thick cloud of smoke clogged the air from a burning fire at the end of the hall. He could hear Leticia muttering in a language he did not know as Sati's menacing laugh filled his ears.

Carefully, Draco began to make his way down the hallway with its many open and closed doors. He passed a few more bodies before he entered into the thick smoke. Silence ensued around him, and it was more frightening than the loud banging that had told him a battle had been going on. Was Leticia all right? Had they already killed her and no longer needed a fight? He was afraid to call out to her, for fear of giving away his position.

The smoke around him did not thin, or disperse as he slowly continued on. He thought he saw shadows moving within the fog and sent a stunning curse at them, but he never heard them collide with anything.

"Little bit," a female's voice called soothingly, softly from within the distance. "Come out and play, little bit."

Sati's drew out the words softly before cackling. There was a blast from somewhere up ahead and the sound of raining rocks. Sati only continued to laugh as this time Sebastian joined in on her cooing, "We know you are here!"

Where they calling out to Leticia? His voice sounded so close, as if it was right behind him! Blindly, fearfully, Draco turned and casted another stunning spell into the fog. He gave a startled jump as Sebastian howled in agony. Not too far from where he was, he could hear a door being forced open. Sebastian's howls of pain grew louder in Draco's ear as the fog turned from gray to an orange glow. He raced towards the source of the light, and the shouting, but was stopped dead in his tracks.

Racing towards Draco, engulfed in flames, was Sebastian. His face was blackened and peeling, turning to ashes before his very eyes. The flames continued to twist and turn around him, until he crumpled onto the ground, a black heap. Within seconds, the blazing fire burned down and all that was left was ashes. Only a magical fire could have  
destroyed a magical creature like a vampire.

With his wand held high he slowly crept around the ashes and charred clothes. He entered the room he believed Sebastian had came from, following a trail of black soot. "Leticia?"

He could tell within seconds that Leticia was not in the room, and not because he didn't see her, but because he heard her shouting in the distance followed by a crashing. However, Draco was not alone in the room either.

His eyes followed a thin trail of black soot further into the room. Burning orange red against the white wall, was half of a small bed. Past that the trail ended where a toppled piano lay splintered on the floor, and peering behind it was a girl.

At first he thought it was a child cowering behind the piano. Her big, round, brown eyes were turned up to him fearfully. Long black hair framed her flawless, olive face. Two pink lips parted in an inaudible gasp. Once she stood, the piano still separating them, he realized she was not a child but a young woman. He could tell by the curves beneath her white dress. As tall as he was, he estimated she would only reach the bottom of his chest.

"Are you okay?" he asked still scanning the room for whoever had set Sebastian on fire.

Maybe it had been Sati? She was a backstabber. Leticia never would have done such a thing. He had never seen her do such a thing. She liked to bring them alive, it earned more money. However, the girl remained silent, and his wand remained lifted. After a moment, the girl slowly and timidly stepped around the piano with bare feet. It dawned on him that he as he was in Mexico, the chances of her understanding him were slim. He was also in a mental institution, according to Leticia, so how could he hope for a clear response?

He lowered his wand, turning to leave the room. He took a step deciding to ignore the pretty girl but froze when she said firmly, "Wait!"

He looked over his shoulder to see she had taken a few more steps closer, careful not to step on the black trail. She was clasping her hands together, looking at him with a look that said she was unsure what to do. The lights began to flash around them. Then her round eyes grew in size. She was looking to the bare, right wall, to Draco's left, and started shouting, "Ya viene! Ella viene!"

Yup, mental, he thought as the lights turned off.

"She is coming," she shouted in a thick accent, retreating to the piano.

There was a loud explosion to the wall she had been shouting about. Draco hardly had enough time to put up his shield charm as large pieces of the wall flew in his direction exposing Sati. Her violet eyes shining triumphantly in the darkness around them as she spotted Draco, but before either of them could react Sati was sent flying forward into the ground. Leticia followed, attempting to lay her hand on Sati that held the ring. It was essential that she touch her for her magic to have the effect she wanted. It was the only way to curse her, so she wouldn't be able to escape by Apparition. A vampire's most powerful spells, and most dangerous spells, could only be done by touching, unlike with wizards.

Sati was too fast and a dangerous dance began as each tried to lay hands on the other. They were both so fast and graceful that within inches of grabbing the other, they would twirl around each other's touch like a choreographed dance. Lights flashed in quick sessions of violet and emerald green, but they too missed their targets and Draco was reduced to hiding behind the piano with the Muggle. He, like she, peered over the brim of the piano watching as the dance ensued with shouts of frustration. Draco tried, once, to perform a stunning spell, but it only barely missed Leticia.

Finally, the dance came to an end with a swift kick to Leticia's legs. As she fell to the ground, Sati readied herself to perform her magic and Draco took his chance.

"Petrificus totalus!"

He saw her violet eyes upon him as he shouted the spell, something he regretted immediately. One moment those violent violet eyes were upon him, and then the next he was looking into a cloud of black smoke. He recognized that type of Apparition; it was the Apparition of a Death Eater. One he had done before, but was keen on never doing again. The black smoke began to gather in the door way, and solidified into a smug looking Sati. "Learn to hold your tongue boy!"

Her dark features were intensified with the dancing shadows of the flaming bed that was beginning to die now. Draco kept his wand held high, aware that the human girl was behind him now and clinging to his shirt. Leticia stood up, her emerald ring glowing with awaiting magic, but so was the violet stone on Sati's hand. Those stones were their wands, and each awaited command as they sparkled within the darkness.

There was a slight shutter of Sati's arm and the duel began anew. Draco's curse went crashing into the wall behind Sati as she gracefully jumped out of the way, only to run into a spell that Leticia had casted. It flew into her right shoulder, forcing a shriek of pain from her lips. Lights flashed around as Leticia and Sati's dangerous dance began anew. Behind him, the Muggle girl clung to his shirt like a human shield and it was all he could do to keep either of them from being hit by the flying jinxes.

There was a bright flash, a powerful wind, and a scream. Once Draco opened his eyes, his wand held high he, and the Muggle girl, stood in the room alone. Draco held his wand high. He strained his ears to listen for a hint as to where Leticia, or Sati were, but all he could hear was his own heavy breathing.

Then a powerful smack from behind caused him to fall onto the ground. His head was searing with pain as he tried to pull himself up from the ground, but a cold hand touched the skin and he could hear the Muggle shrieking as he let out a howl of pain mixed with the mad cackling of Sati. It felt as if the bones in his back were breaking apart one by  
one.

"Stop it," the Muggle pleaded.

The agonizing breaking finished, and Draco was left with an undying pain in his back like fire. He gasped for air, as black began to cloud his vision. He had to hang on. His hand felt around blindly as he heard feet smacking against the floor around him. His fingertips  
brushed against the familiar wood, but as he clasped his hand around it there was a searing pain that reached from his fingers tips to his back.

He opened his eyes, seeing the Muggle cut off from escape by a ring of fire. Sati was stepping into it, and Draco was struggling to hold his wand up. The pain in his back was causing tears to blur his vision. His arm felt limp and shook with protest as he tried to raise it from the floor.

Sati was smiling, bearing her fangs for the girl to see. The girl looked terrified, her body shaking as if she was trying to move it, but some invisible force was holding her there. Sati raised her hand, the violet ring burning now with its light and she touched the muggle's forehead. If he cut her hand off, it would be hard for her to do magic, and like hell he was going to watch her feed on her prey.

"Sectum Sep-"

Sati had heard him, but her reaction was too late. She was able to keep her hand out of the way of the spell's slicing, but he could see the cutting of her body tight dress. She let out a gasp of pain as blood began to seep through.

Slowly, a silver light began to fill the room, as Draco arm fell limply to the floor. Sati took a step back, her arms covering her wounds as the silver light from the hole in the wall that exposed the night's starry sky grew almost blinding. Then she was gone.

As she vanished, so did the fire surrounding the Muggle. He watched as she sunk to her knees before collapsing onto the ground, but he couldn't move to her.

"Draco! Draco," Leticia was shouting from somewhere far away.

Shadows passed before him as he stared at the unmoving muggle before him. She looked as if she was sleeping. There was a peaceful expression upon her olive face. Strands of her dark hair kissed her cheeks. As Draco lay there, and Leticia's voice continued to shout from somewhere far away, he noticed how tiny the muggle's hands were. They looked like child hands. How fragile muggles were.

"Draco," Leticia's voice came from somewhere far away, but her face was suddenly before him.

* * *

Thanks to my great beta Linkkinparkk for doing such an awesome job betaing! Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to read and have favorited the story, or me! Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Don't be shy to leave a review and let me know what you think! Z~


	4. Home or Mortal Peril

**Chapter 4 : Home or Mortal Peril**

_ONE WEEK LATER_

Draco had spent a good part of the morning staring at the clock in disbelief. It was his own name he had been watching. For the entire morning, it had been switching from home to mortal peril. He had noticed it doing so the past few days, his attention called to it by its chimes. His parents' names were on travelling; it seemed they were no longer in mortal peril, but Draco was. The past few days the clock had been chiming its deep brass tone to announce the danger Draco did not know existed. During the day it would switch casually from peril to home, and then later chime again as his hand pointed to mortal  
peril once more.

At first, he tried to calm himself with the thought that it was broken. He had taken it to a store to have it checked on, but he had been told all was in order. The wizard also offered to buy it from Draco, as he had never seen such a wonderful thing. However, he had taken it back home and had taken to spending his days watching it, instead of wandering why Leticia and his boss Gordon were still away in Mexico and what they were doing.

He had noticed something very odd however. The switching of his name only occurred between two in the morning, until eleven in the morning. Afterwards, it remained stuck on either peril or home. It was as if somewhere, someone was fighting over his future, and had yet to come to a decision. Now, and for the past three hours, the clock had not chimed, or settled on either. At the moment, it was stuck between the peril and hom and eleven 'o' clock was nearing.

He watched as the tiny hand began to shudder. Softly the deep tones of the clock began to chime as it settled upon mortal peril. His heart sunk as the clock sung a wordless song of impending danger and possible death. Did it have anything to do with Sati? The song finished on one short, deep note, making the silence more ominous than before it had begun.

"Ah!"

Draco toppled into the floor, falling from his chair as a loud thumping noise disrupted his silence. He pulled his wand out, aiming it randomly at ... nothing. He stood up, rubbing his sore back, and searched for the source of the noise. All he found was his owl with a  
letter in its beak. He crossed the room quickly, opening the window to let in his owl.

He hooted affectionately as Draco gave him a treat in exchange for the letter. He took it away, seeing that it was from his parents. Quickly, he opened it to see his mother's elegant writing sprawled across the paper. It had been almost two months since he had written her.

_My son,_

__

Your father and I are just fine. Our biggest concern is you. I hope you are okay, and I hope you have found someone to keep you company now that we are away. We hope to have grandchildren when we return you know -

Draco scoffed. Even on the run his mother was still reminding him of her want for grandchildren.

__

- We have been quiet comfortable as we have been travelling. I would give you more details, but you know how hurried we are. Your father sends his love. We miss you terribly.

Love,

_Your mother  
_  
For a moment, Draco forgot about his own current danger. He was too relieved to read his mother's writing to feel concern for himself. He re-read and re-read the letter, trying to understand the hidden clues within her words. They were comfortable? Were they hiding away in abandoned Muggle houses? He had heard of people doing such things when Voldermort was rising to power. If so, he wondered how unhappy this made his father. He laughed as he imagined the things his father would say about having to share a bed with dirty Muggles.

Then just as fast as the relief had come, it vanished with an abrupt gnawing of anxiety. When would he be able to see them again? When would he be able to write to them again? Being on the move as much as they had been made it hard for his owl to find them. If they were found by Aurors he would know, but if their enemies found them, would he ever find out what happened to his parents?

His worries were interrupted by a timid voice, "Master?"

"Yes Layla," he replied curtly, tearing his eyes away from his paper and to the tiny house elf.

She wore a simple blue sheet that draped over her shoulders like curtains. A golden thread was tied around the waist. It complimented her frail, lavender skin and matched her lavender eyes that were open wide like orbs. "Master has guest. Leticia and a friend."

As the house elf spoke, bowing so low to the floor that her long nose almost touched the floor, Leticia entered the room wearing a travelling cloak. Following behind her was another cloaked figure. He assumed it was a girl by the slender build beneath the cloak that enshrouded her like curtains. Whoever it was, she kept her face downcast and her  
hood up.

Draco found this neither important, nor interesting. He had seen Leticia with another vampire only once, not including the ones they hunted. It had been during the day, and the vampire had exhibited the same behaviours. They were creatures of the night; the sun hurt their eyes so he wasn't surprised by this.

"You could have sent a letter to let me know you were coming," he greeted her.

"Why would I do that, when I haven't sent you a letter about what has been going on?" she retorted, and Draco snorted.

"What has been going on?" he asked.

"I'll explain later," she said quickly. "There is someone I want you to meet."

"Who?" he asked.

"Your new house guest," she said rather timidly.

Draco stared hard at her for a moment, debating on if he heard right. He decided he hadn't, "Excuse me?"

"Well, the past few days we haven't been sure what we should do with her really," she started again in the middle of a story Draco didn't know the beginning to. "She seems absolutely frightened of me - I suppose it is because I am a vampire. The Mexican government wanted to erase her memory and just forget about her, but since we believe she is being chased, Kingsley and I decided that wasn't a good idea. We had that red headed bloke from the International Cooperation Department - Percy Weasley - working everyday to convince their president to let her come with us - "

"Leticia."

"But like I said, she seems scared of me and will not talk to me - "

"Leticia!"

"She will talk a little bit to Kingsley, but she kept asking for you and we decided that maybe - "

"Leticia!" he shouted for the third time and that seemed to catch her attention.

She finally stopped explaining, looking at him with a mock look of hurt that he had interrupted her. All he could do was run his hands through his blond hair and ask in frustration, "What the bloody hell are you talking about?"

"Well, about the Muggle of course! The one Sati is after!"

Draco stared at her in disbelief for a moment. Surely, he was going crazy. Come to think about it, his head still hurt from the fight with Sati. That must be it. "What?"

Leticia let out a sigh in exasperation. Clearly, she was unable to see why he couldn't follow her story. Instead of speaking, she turned to the cloaked figure standing in the doorway as if she was afraid to be too close to either of them. She quickly lifted her head, realizing that both of their eyes were upon her.

Swimming, round, brown eyes stared into Draco. Tiny hands lowered the hood around her olive face. Long, wavy, black hair spilled down her shoulders like a waterfall. It was the Muggle from the insane asylum.

Draco couldn't believe it! A Muggle in the house of pure bloods. Hadn't Leticia said she would be a houseguest? He turned to her, furious that she had surprised him like this. "No crazy Muggle is going to be staying here!"

"I'm not crazy," the Muggle tried to force out the words, but the look on her face told them it had came out more timid than she had meant it to. Softly, she repeated, "I'm not crazy."

Draco stared at the Muggle, surprised she could understand them, even if she had spoken a tiny bit of English the night Sati had attacked her. He stared at her, waiting to see if she would continue speaking. When her lasp into silence continued on, he turned to Leticia for answers. She was watching the Muggle girl with great interest, considering her for a moment, before turning to Draco and seeing the expectant look in his eyes.

"Her name is Serah, and she is not crazy Draco," she said firmly, softly.

Draco casted a glance at the Muggle who had taken a seat on a lone chair in the sitting room. This just couldn't be happening, he kept telling himself. He turned away from Leticia, looking out a sunny window in disbelief.

Leticia continued talking to his back. "From what Kingsley got out of her and other Muggles, she was put in the asylum because she was attacked by a vampire when she was fifteen. They killed her foster parents, but when she told the authorities what happened, they didn't believe her, being Muggles and all. They thought she was traumatized by witnessing their brutal murders, and when she insisted on vampires  
killing them, she was sent to asylum. We talked to a few of the doctors there. They said she is quiet bright. She has learned how to play the piano, she's learned how to speak English and is working on French. They said the only affliction she had were very bad nightmares about vampires, but other than that they believed she was making a full recovery. Of course we know she's not crazy because vampires are real after all."

She finished talking to Draco's back and awaited his reply. He had soaked in everything she said, and although it made perfect sense, something was missing. "If she really was attacked by vampires, then why didn't her Ministry get involved?"

"Well ... let's just say their Ministry doesn't have a very defined Department for the Control of Magical Beasts like we do," she said with disdain. "Their beliefs are that the vampires should deal with their own kind. Vampires are beneath them. Their Ministry showed up, you know. That's why Sati got away. She knew they were coming, so she ran off, but they didn't even know vampires were there. They only knew you were there  
because you had performed magic. Apparently, they don't have a big vampire problem. Too hot and sunny."

Draco turned back to see that Muggle, Serah, was watching them now. Her brown eyes were intently set on Draco, and even he found it hard to hold her gaze. So mayber she wasn't crazy, but she was still a Muggle. "So why is she here?"

"I told you," Leticia groaned. "She won't talk to me. I think she is scared of me after being attacked by a vampire twice now. Kingsley can hardly get anything out of her, but she said your name a few times. We think . . . maybe you might have better luck with her."

"Well, why does she have to stay here?" he rounded on Leticia.

She shook her head with a look that told him that she had expected him to act like this. "Sati is after her, so we need someone to protect her, and since she doesn't seem to like me . . . "

"I don't want her here," he told Leticia, not caring to see the Muggle's reaction.

"Well, too bad," Leticia glared at him. "She is staying here. That is a direct order from the Minister of Magic himself. The sooner we figure out why Sati is after her and stop her, the sooner you can be all alone in this oversized house!"

There was a loud rip as she Apparated out of his house and left him alone with the Muggle. She was looking at the ground now, and no longer at him. Stupid, pretty Muggle, he thought to himself. She looked so tiny, so fragile. That was why they were making a big deal out of this. She was so cute they just couldn't abandon her. She was  
like a lost puppy to them. He scoffed in agitation. They were probably wrong and Sati wasn't after the human at all. Sebastian was probably the reason they were there. Of course, no one had asked Draco his opinion. Stupid.

He threw himself on the couch, watching his owl that was now attempting to sleep peacefully in its cage. He sat in an anxious silence for a long time. What was he suppose to do now? What would his parents say, knowing he had been volunteered to babysit a Muggle? There was no way out of it.

_Woosh._

The Muggle's head had snapped up as an owl came flying out of the chimney. It was carrying an envelope in its beak and dropped right before Draco. He could feel the Muggle's eyes on him as the owl shook out her wings and turned to fly away.

He opened the letter, recognizing the parchment as belonging to the Minister of Magic. It was short.

_Draco Malfoy,_

__

Tomorrow the Auror assigned to the case of Sati will be arriving at your house to meet with you and Serah. Keep her safe.

Sincerely,

_Kingsley Shacklebolt  
_  
Draco crumbled the parchment in his hand, turning to the Muggle. The only way to get his house back was to find out why Sati was after her, then stop her. The sooner he got that done, the sooner he could be shot of her.

"Serah," he addressed her.

Her brown eyes that had been staring after the owl that had just disappeared turned to him timidly. There was a strained frown upon her face as she waited for him to continue.

"I need to know why Sati is after you," he asked.

She just stared at him, her eyes growing slightly rounder. Her lips pressed together as she watched. He felt annoyance in her silence.

"You do speak English, don't you? Tell me why Sati is after you."

"Who is Sati?" she asked.

Her words were thick with a Spanish accent. Her S's were short and sharp. Her vowels were rounded. Her voice was firm and she had a look about her that told Draco she was braving herself.

"The vampire! The vampire who attacked you at the asylum," he was getting frustrated.

"I didn't know her name," she said curtly.

"Why is she after you?" Draco repeated the question once more.

"I do not know," she said.

"Well, is she the same one that attacked you before they threw you in the crazy house?"

Yet again, she pressed her lips together and left him in silence. Both Kingsley and Leticia were stupid gits. If they hadn't gotten anything out of her, why on earth would he be able to? He threw himself back into his chair. He wasn't about to repeat himself. She wasn't four years old. Stupid Muggle, with her stupid puppy dog brown eyes. He wasn't going to feel sorry for her just because she was beautiful. How could anyone help her if she didn't tell them what was going on?

A nostalgic sickness swept over him as a voice from his past repeated his words.

_"Draco, I want to help you. Please, but if you do not tell me what is going on, I can't."_

Pansy Parkinson's voice played over in his head. Severus Snape's voice repeated the same words from his sixth year. No one had helped him fix the vanishing cabinet, because he told no one. He couldn't tell them.

Draco's eyes had fallen upon the _Quibble_r once more. It had taken him three days to read the entire article. Each paragraph made it harder and harder to continue reading. He had had to split it up, reading only bits and pieces until he had read it in its entirety. Only then could he read it from beginning to end.

He knew the story now, the truth behind it all, most of which he had already known. Dumbledore had known all along Draco was meant to kill him. Snape had told him of his mission, and Dumbledore had ordered Snape to help him. Snape had been ordered to kill Dumbledore, by Dumbledore himself. All along Snape had been helping Dumbledore and  
why, because he loved Harry Potter's mother so much. He betrayed Voldermort all to keep Harry, the son of the woman he so desperately loved, alive.

Draco could hardly believe it. He played through his memory of Snape, never once finding one that showed even a remote hint of caring for Harry Potter. He played through his memory, never once finding a hint of betrayal for the Dark Lord. His search for some confirmation of what the article said about Snape had taken him so deep into his own memories, he had hardly noticed that it was late into the afternoon.

Grudgingly, he called Layla into the room and ordered her to prepare a room for the Muggle. As she left from the room, he turned once more to the Muggle. "I need to know, is Sati the same vampire that attacked you before the other night?"

The Muggle, who had been intently watching the owl perched in its cage, now refused to look Draco in the eyes. Instead, she turned her attention to her small hands. He waited a few moments longer, but she refused to meet his gaze or answer his question. A flare of angry frustration burned with him.

Aloud, he spoke his thoughts, which only got an angry glare from the Muggle. "If you weren't crazy before being thrown in that asylum, you are now!"

There was a loud crashing in the room nearest them. It sounded like the banging of pots, and Draco jumped to his feet, raising his wand before him. He waited as the crashing died down into silence. There was a crack as Layla apparated before them.

The Muggle let out a gasp of surprise, rising to her own feet as well. No sound came from the kitchen now as the only sound that filled the room was the grandfather's clock ticking and their heavy breathing.

"What was that?" the Muggle asked in a frightened voice.

Draco refused to answer her, taking a cautious step towards the door that led to the kitchen. With his wand still raised, he quickly opened the door and aimed. Littering the floor was the cause of the noise, several pots. All the cabinet drawers and doors were standing wide open. The stove top was burning with a heavy fire.

Quickly Layla scurried around his feet, the Muggle peering over his shoulder. Layla quickly put the fire out, and magically put the pots away.

"What happened?" Draco demanded.

"Layla does not know master," she squeaked in a terrified voice. "Layla was making a room for master's guest upstairs."

Draco took another look around the room. He was quite certain no one was there. It must have been a prank from Leticia he decided. She tended to do such things when she was upset with him. He would see her tomorrow.

"Layla, show the Muggle to her room," he said discourteously.

"Yes master," she said bowing low before scurrying off.

When Draco finally tore his eyes off the kitchen he made to follow the house elf leading Serah up the stairs. She kept her head down, not looking at the portraits that led the way up. He could see their occupants rushing from their frames to other frames to whisper, or whispering to those already in their own frames. A few that were left alone glowered down at Draco, but Serah did not seem to notice.

The house elf led her down the same hallway that led to Draco's room, eagerly beckoning her to the door nearest the end of the corridor. Draco watched as Serah sent one last look down to him, before she disappeared through the doorway, into the room. Once the door had clicked shut, Draco turned away and scowled at the disproving portraits. "I didn't ask for her company," he hissed at them, not sure why he was protesting to a group of occupants who were all now dead. Something in him still fought for their approval, although most of that had died now. He let out an exasperated sigh as the portraits all tutted and shook their heads, storming towards his own room. He slammed the door shut more forcefully then he had intended, closing his eyes as he leaned against the door.

"_Draco_."

Draco felt chills rise upon his arms as his eyes snapped open. It had been five years since he had last heard that hissing voice, but he had yet to forget it. For the first time in five years, the portrait that had always hung empty in his room now was occupied. A young woman with filthy teeth and heavily lined eyes glared out of him. She pushed her wild hair out of her eyes as Draco neared her portrait.

"You filthy, blood traitor you," she started out low in her hissing voice, but slowly it began to rise to a scream. "How dare you bring a filthy Muggle into my house? If the Dark Lord knew of such treachery - "

"The Dark Lord is dead, dear aunt," he glowered back her, "and he is never coming back - "

"No! No!" she shrieked as if he was torturing her. "Do not say such terrible things! The Dark Lord cannot be defeated! He cannot be dead! And when he hears of the horrible thing you have done, bringing such filth into my house, _MY HOME_ - "

Unable to bear another moment of his dead aunt's complaining, he pulled the portrait off the wall.

"What are you doing? You filthy traitor? I will have you murdered! You are no longer family!"

He tilted the portrait on its side, and its screaming occupant fell from view. Unceremoniously, he set it on the floor so Bella Lestrange would never be able to climb back into the picture. With a sigh, he threw himself onto his bed, where he stayed for the rest of the evening and night.

* * *

Thanks for reading, and the adds. As always, thanks to my wonderful beta, and to my twin :)


	5. A New Death Mask

**Author's Note :** Hello again :) Just wanted to make this clear because of the questions I have gotten, yes this about Harry and Draco's relationship in regard to each other, but not their ROMANTIC relationship. Sorry if that confused you!

* * *

**A New Death Mask**

Draco awoke the following morning at dawn feeling more tired than when he had finally fallen asleep the night before. His head throbbed, and his muscles ached, but he made himself get up. He dressed before walking out of his room. He could hear the thundering feet of the ghoul above them on the third floor. He and his father had been ready to take on the task of permanently removing him, but before they had gotten the chance, the clock had chimed their mortal peril.

He descended the stairs to the sitting room, and entered through the door on the opposite side of the kitchen door into the dining room. An elegant, cheery wood table was laid with food for the morning. Two plates had been set, each ready with food to eat. He sat down prepared to start his breakfast with, or without, the Muggle, but before he could start the timid voice of the old house elf spoke to him.

"Good morning young master."

Draco did not reply, sending the elf a superior look that seemed to frighten the house elf into a lower bow. Addressing the floor she spoke timidly, "Layla tried to tell Master's guest that food was ready, but Master's guest did not wish to eat. Master's guest did not eat supper either."

Draco let out a long, annoyed sigh. He stood up abruptly, causing his chair to slide back and almost tip over. Leticia and Kingsley would throw a right fit if the Muggle didn't eat. "What room did you give to her?"

"I gave her the old room of Mistress Andromeda," Layla, still bowing, answered. "Mistress Andromeda was always very nice to Layla."

Draco ignored Layla's last comment, eyeing the ceiling above him. It seemed fitting that the Muggle would have the Muggle lover's room. He had never met his third aunt, nor had he ever been to her room on the second floor. He knew which room it was, however, because he had often seen his mother standing timidly outside of it as if she were afraid she might walk in and see her long, lost sister.

Without a word, Draco marched right up the stairs and to the room he had seen his mother standing outside of so many times before. With a balled fist, he pounded on the door. "Muggle!"

There was no answer but he was sure he heard the shuffle of feet. He banged on the door and this time shouted her name, "Serah!"

He stopped pounding as tiny feet moved across the hard wooden floors. He could hear the lock twisting and the door slowly opened to reveal a small woman wearing a white dress and shoes. They must have been her only clothes from the asylum.

"Come and eat breakfast," he tried to keep his voice civil, and was surprised by how successful he was.

The door opened wider, and Draco could not help but be attracted to what was behind it. It was just as big as his mother's and Bella's room, but three tall windows stretched from the roof almost completely to the floor. Bright light flooded through them, and a few branches from the tall tree that shaded the back garden interrupted the view. Sitting in the room was a piano that looked new and untouched, much like the one that had been toppled over in her room in the asylum. There were a few posters that looked faded of old singers on the wall. A few pictures hung around the room, its occupants unidentifiable.

Serah stepped from the room, closing it behind her, and Draco led the way back to the kitchen. Silently she sat in the chair across from Draco, and waited for him to begin. As they noiselessly ate, Draco's eyes kept glancing at the Muggle. What was he going to do? He had to get information out of her, but to do it he decided he was going to have to more ... civil. It pained him to think of what his parents would say, knowing a Muggle was in his care. He didn't dare dwell on what his dear aunt, Bella, would shout!

Once they finished eating, she followed Draco back into the sitting room. She stood timidly for a moment, glancing at the cage where the owl was perched. It gave a small hoot, watching her curiously. There was a small hint of a smile in her lips as it flew from its cage for a better look by sitting on a nearby chair. She didn't move as Draco searched for his treats.

The owl hooted again, and this time a small giggle escaped Serah's lips. Maybe if he could get her in a well enough mood he could get the information out of her, and soon be shot of her. Taking a treat in his hand, he walked over to the Muggle.

"Here," he said holding out his hand.

She looked at him curiously for a moment and then at his hand. She had a worn look on her face, as if she was unsure what to do. Patiently taking her wrist in his hand, he opened up her own and placed it in the palm of her hand. "She likes treats."

He gently moved her hand near the owl. It blinked at the two of them for a moment, hopping slightly closer. After a few moment's consideration, it quickly took the treat from her hand and flew away to finish it off. She watched it curiously for a moment and Draco couldn't help but blurt out the question, "Have you never seen an owl?"

"I've seen them at zoos before," she said serenely, "but never this close."

Draco held out his arm once the owl was done with its treat, and loftily it flew to him and landed. Hooting affectionately, it moved onto Serah, landing on her shoulder. Serah's face lit up, giving her an entirely different beauty. Her swimming brown eyes got larger and brighter. She flashed a brilliant white smile as the owl hooted affectionately as she petted it. Draco couldn't help but smile himself. It was like watching a small child.

After a moment, the bird flew back to his perch and hooted. Draco decided it was now or never. The girl seemed happy enough with her large smile that seemed to have brightened her entire face. Turning to her he asked once more, "Serah, I need to know ... what you know about Sati."

He could tell instantly that it was a mistake. The brightness in Serah's face was extinguished and she turned sad, swimming eyes on him. "The sooner I tell you, the sooner you can be rid of me, right?"

Draco gaped at her, wondering if she could read his mind. He felt taken aback, but before he could answer, there was a knock at his door. He heard a faint pop as his house elf attended to the matter. He turned his eyes away from where the door would be and back to Serah. She was watching the bird again, her mouth firmly closed.

"Master has guest," Layla announced while Draco struggled to find something to say to the Muggle. "Mister Harry Potter."

Draco's heard his own neck pop with the rapid movement as he turned to look at his house elf and behind her, Harry Potter. Even though they worked in the same building, it was the first time that Draco had seen Harry since he testified to his parent's change of heart. He was still just as tall as he had been then. His black hair was as messy as ever, and his glasses the same black rimmed circle. The lightning bolt scar was curtained by his hair, but he knew it was there just the same. The only notable difference was the wedding ring on his finger.

Draco could tell that Harry was not shocked to see Draco standing before him. He must have known long ago he would be working alongside him, but Draco could not get over the shock of it. He had had an idea once that Harry could have been the man assigned to the job, but he had been sure Harry would turn it down. He had believed Harry would have told them about the fights, about how they hated each other, even if the animosity had been put behind them, they could never work together well enough to make a team.

There was a new knock on the door and both Harry and Draco turned to the direction, eager to look at something else. As they were looking, Draco could feel Serah moving away from him. Before Layla had left the room, they could hear the door opening and Leticia's voice shouting, "Sorry I am late! Has Harry gotten here yet - oi!"

She stopped short of the open doorway and smiled in Harry's direction, "Good morning Har - Serah!"

Her bright greeting had turned into a shout, and both Harry and Draco wheeled around to see Serah disappearing through an open window. Draco, followed by the other two, rushed to the window to see her disappearing into the crowd of wizard shoppers. The crowd of wizard wearing both cloaks and muggle clothing engulfed her, no one turning to so much as to look at her.

Draco heart sunk as he lost sight of her. Behind him, he could hear Leticia shouting at him, but he wasn't sure what she was saying. Before he could think about why he was following her, he was bounding out of the window. He could still hear Leticia shouting after him as he bounded into the crowd of shoppers.

The alleyway that lead to Diagon Alley after a few blocks was full of last minute shoppers as September neared. Draco pushed his way through, only half aware that Harry Potter was on his heels as he shouted after her, "Serah!"

The crowd thinned as the wizarding street lead into a Muggle street. Draco felt an odd vibrating sensation as he broke free of the magical enchantments that disguised the street as a brick wall. Draco paused to catch his breath as Harry caught up.

"Where did she go?" Harry panted slightly.

They were standing in a narrow alley between buildings with tall dumpsters. The sun shone magnificently beyond them and Draco saw a brief glimpse of a speeding, Muggle-vehicle. Without answering, he ran the only way she could have gone.

"Draco, there," Harry shouted as they stepped out of the narrow alley and onto a mostly deserted sidewalk.

Something was wrong. How could she, a muggle, have seen past that magical barrier? Also, where were all the muggles? No one stood on the street and none of the muggle vehicles were passing now. They were not far from Diagon Alley, and even if they were in the muggle world, the streets should be busy.

"Serah," Draco shouted.

She turned just to glance at them, her hand upon the door of a building when her tiny body went flying back. Draco felt Harry push him out of the way as a spell came from behind. Whoever had tried to curse him, was now laying stiff as a board on the ground as Draco picked himself up. He couldn't see Serah anymore, but he could see three cloaked figures on the roof of the surrounding buildings. Death eaters!

"Draco, get to Serah," Harry shouted from behind something, "I'll cover you."

Draco dashed in the direction Serah's body had fallen. From above, spells rained upon him. He stopped short as a gaping hole spread before him, twisting like quick sand. With a wave of his wand he sent the muggle vehicle flying into the sky towards one of the death eaters.

Stepping around the gaping hole he spotted Serah behind a dumpster hiding. He was able to make it too her. Across the street Harry was silently casting spells in the direction of the other two death eaters, which Draco could not see. Not too far from him, sat the car on top of the building.

There was a loud explosion and water was now erupting from a strange, red, metal casing on the sidewalk. Harry was using this to his advantage by using it as a cover. "Get her out of here Draco!"

He pulled on her hand and led her down the alley into a nearby building. Muggles lay unconscious upon the floor, asleep. Draco had never seen such a spell, but he didn't have time to examine. He ran out into the street behind, but he could still hear Harry fighting with the death eaters. This street felt like a different world. Muggle vehicles sped through the streets and people crowded the sidewalk. A large bus passed, and Draco panicked.

"Adonde vamos," Serah was shouting frantically. "Adonde?"

"English," he reminded her forcefully as he began to pull her back up the street. They could reach that bar from here, he was sure. What was it called? Something to do with a cauldron. He followed the crowd crossing the street unsure of which way he was going. It was now too crowded for him to apparate, but at the same time he had no idea where he was.

"Where are we going," Serah asked again.

"I don't know," he replied curtly.

They followed the crowd for several more minutes when a sign caught his eye. The Leaky Cauldron! He hurried his footsteps, pulling Serah along with him as they broke from the crowd. He had never made note of this entrance into the alley, pure bloods never mixed with muggle populations to reach their destinations. Now he wished had thought other wise.

The old bartender looked up as Draco made his way towards them. He was just opening his mouth to ask how to get to the other side when Serah shouted. "Draco, look out!"

The movement in the corner of his eye had just caught his attention when he pulled his wand out.

"No," the bartender shouted.

Draco reacted quickly enough, he recognized the spell's wand work and was able to perform the counter curse.

"Get behind the bar," he commanded of Serah.

The bar, which had been full, was now emptying as Draco came up against one of them. This wasn't a death eater, he realized. His mask was ghostly white, with long, narrow slits for eyes. The mask exposed the mouth, and looked nothing like a skull like death eaters. This was more sinister in its simplicity.

Both of them moved at the same instant, raising their wands and coming down with spells that collided and threw them both back. Draco joined Serah behind the bar, aiming in the direction of the cloaked figure. His spell casted a ring of fire around him and its flames snaked upwards to the air. The man began to tame the flames however and they began a swirling mass of fire that he sent towards Draco.

Draco pulled on Serah's hand, and they were able to escape the fire with the barmen on their heels. The barmen sent his own ill aimed spell at the opponent but missed. Luckily Draco's was more precise and his levi corpus spell sent him into the air, and his wand to the ground.

"Draco!"

Harry entered the bar, his entire left arm covered in blood. He took one look at the two of them, and then to the floating corpse. "You caught one!"

There was a ripping of the air around them, and Draco turned expecting to see Leticia now in their presence, but it was another one of them. The slender figure draped in black reached out for Serah, her sharp fingers closing around her arm.

Serah screamed and struggled to pull her off as Draco was forced to drop the other body and cut her off of Serah. "Diffindo!"

Both women screamed as Harry pulled Serah fom the masked woman's clutches. Her hand was severed gruesomely, but Draco didn't have time to stop her from getting away. Something sharp cut into his leg, and he crumpled to the floor as a loud pop and a tearing of the air announced their opponent's exit.

Draco felt his body fall against hard, wooden floors. There was a loud banging as two other bodies landed beside him. He sat up, pain exploding in his leg as his eyes landed on the deep gash that tore through his jeans and stained them dark with blood.

"Ginny! Ginny!"

Draco was only faintly aware of Harry's shouting as he clenched at his leg that felt as if it was burning and having deep, painful muscle spasms at the same moment. He let out a groan as Serah pushed him back to the floor and gasped at the wound.

The door open, but Draco couldn't see who entered. He could hear the panicked voices, however, of several people. There was a bustle of movement as the pain in his leg seem to spread. He sat up, just in time to a new gash slicing through his jeans across his shin. He let out a howl of pain and Serah pushed him back once more.

"What the bloody hell?" said the familiar voice of Ron Weasely.

"Harry what happened?" Ginny was begging.

"Help him, please," Serah was pleading, but Draco was shutting his eyes and biting his tongue in an effort to stop the screaming as another slash cut into the skin of his upper leg just above the knee.

"Why is Draco here?" Ron Weasely voice floated to him again over the softer and lowered voice of Harry who was speaking to Ginny.

Draco opened his eyes to see bushy brown hair. "Diffindo. Hold him still!"

Draco could hear the ripping of fabric and for a moment wasn't sure if it was his jeans or Leticia arriving. He tried to sit up again, but a force pushed him back as black blurred the edges of his vision and for a moment he saw nothing more than deep, swimming, brown eyes.

"This is dark magic Harry, did you do - "

"Of course not," snapped Harry. "Death Eaters - "

"Death Eaters," several voice said at once.

Somewhere a small child was crying over the melodic tone of Hermione Granger. Draco could feel the burning in his leg slowly soothing to nothing more than a minor throbbing. His breathing returned to normal, and the force that had him pinned down now relented. He attempted to sit up to see the entire room staring at him. His eyes found Hermione first who was staring at her fiancé, whose eyes were narrowed in complete dislike. Standing next to him was Harry sporting a wound of his own that he was healing himself with the aiding eye of his now wife, Ginny.

His heart gave frightful leap as he set eyes on Bella, but quickly realized it was not his aunt, although they did look identical. Her hair resembled his aunt's, only it was brown and the features of her face were softer, and her eyes kinder. In her hands, she carried a boy whose face was buried behind her arms, and Draco was sure the little boy had blue hair, even through his limited viewpoint.

Draco last set eyes upon Serah, who was staring at him guiltily. She muttered something, but he could not be sure if it was English or not. He turned to Hermione and uttered a small, "Thank you."

She said nothing as she stood up, quickly crossing the room into the safety of her fiancé's arms. Draco busied himself with repairing his blood stained pants that Hermione had ripped just above the knee in order to get to the sliced skin. When he looked up again, the woman  
who looked like his aunt was now leaving the room along with the child.

Draco stood, surprised by how helpful Serah, who had just been trying to run away from him, was now being. He tried not to meet any of their eyes. He knew they hated him, and well, he couldn't blame them when he thought back to all the things he had done before. He would hate him too.

"Don't tell me," Ron sneered, throwing Draco a hateful look, "that you were assigned to work with this git!"

Hermione shot Ron a worried look, but said nothing. Harry gave one small look at Draco before turning to Ron, "Draco and I . . . . Well, we are partners."

Ron scoffed, and Hermione and Ginny braved small glances at Draco. Draco found he could not look at any of them, and instead set his attention to the small Muggle girl behind him. She was standing at his side, her head down as if she were being judged by them all and she  
was ashamed.

Ron opened his mouth, and to everyone's utter surprise, including Draco, Ginny cut him off, "Oh, get off it Ron. This isn't helping!"

Ron's mouth made an audible popping noise as his teeth hit each other while he shut them. He looked offended and his ears were burning red, but Ginny was glaring defiantly at him. Hermione hurriedly asked Harry, glancing at Draco as she spoke, "What happened Harry?"

"Death Eaters attacked us," Harry explained to her.

"But that's impossible," Hermione shuddered, still looking worriedly between Ginny and Ron. "Everyone that was left was arrested and put into Azkaban. They wouldn't form without a leader, and they all know Voldemort isn't coming back."

"I don't think they were Death Eaters," Draco said softly.

His words seemed to silence the room. All their eyes fell upon him and the silence was so stony that he couldn't even hear them breathing. He gave a look at Serah, who was watching him now, her white dress smeared with mud and blood. Quickly carrying on before Ron could burst Draco continued, "They were not wearing Death Eater masks."

"What were they wearing?" Ginny asked Harry.

Harry just shrugged, he had not gotten a good look at them, but Draco had. "They had white mask, with long slits for eyes, and they only covered half the face."

"That sounds nothing like Death Eater masks," Hermione said, but she too was speaking more to Harry than to Draco. "Maybe they are copycats?"

"Maybe," Harry said, and looked to Draco.

Draco said nothing as he remembered the pearly white masks peering into his face as Draco had stunned him.

"How many of them were there?" Ginny asked Harry.

"Not too many," Harry answered her. "Maybe four?"

"What cloaks were they wearing," Hermione asked.

"Black cloaks," Harry shrugged. "Not very original.

There was a strained scoff. They all feel into an awkward silence. It was clear from everyone's face that they were pondering the meaning behind the masks, everyone save Ron who was still throwing Ginny mutinous looks and Draco death glares. Beside him, Serah shifted uncomfortably, her head once again on the floor.

"Is this ... your girlfriend, Draco?" Ginny said timidly, as if she had just noticed the tiny woman.

Draco jumped, his mouth opened slightly. Why would she think that? What would he say without upsetting the Muggle? Luckily, he didn't have to, because Harry answered for her, "She is the Muggle that I told you about."

Ginny looked back to Harry, a small look of understanding on her face. She then turned back to Serah, and held out her hand. "Come with me. I think we have some old clothes that could fit you."

Serah looked at her hand timidly, before asking Draco with her eyes if she should go. Draco said nothing, but slightly inclined his head and watched as she allowed Ginny to take her away from the room.

"Who is she?" Hermione said.

"Her name is Serah," Draco answered, gaining another hateful glare from Ron.

"Kingsley assigned Draco, Leticia, and me to look after her. It seems a vampire is after her, one who worked for Voldermort a long time ago," he said.

"Who?" Hermione asked.

"Sati," Harry shot her a questioning look. "Know of her?"

Hermione nodded her head, "She's a very dark vampire. Even the vampire's form of government are after her. She is almost three hundred years old. She will be dieing soon."

"Well not soon enough," Draco muttered, but they ignored him.

"I don't think Draco can go back home now," Harry spoke, but it was unclear who he was speaking too. "Whoever they were, they must have been watching them."

Draco said nothing. He knew Harry was right. They must have been waiting for the perfect moment to make their attack, and they had obviously found it.


	6. Magical Scars

Note: This is a story NOT about a ROMANTIC relationship between Harry and Draco, they are just two of the main characters.

* * *

Nightmares that once had been hidden in the shadows of his mind now plagued him with sickening fury. Those dreams that were full of twinkling blue eyes glossing over, erasing life with the blackness of death, were only replaced with red eyes. Frightening red eyes, menacingly chased him as he clawed his way through the darkness. Somewhere in the darkness he could feel the angry, green eyes that glared at him accusingly, hoping he would just allow the darkness to surround him, suffocate him, destroy him . . .

Draco awoke from the sounds of his own screams feeling clammy and out of breath. His heart pounded in his ears, drowning out all other noise save his own heavy breaths. The plague of nightmares had resumed when he spent his first night in Grimmauld and had persisted ever since. Since the attack, he had been left without a safe place to lay his head, until coming to 12 Grimmauld Place, something Harry Potter had been reluctant to allow him to do. Somehow Ginny had talked Harry into it. Draco believed it had something to do with his saving her life his final year of school.

He sat up, only faintly aware that his door had opened and big brown eyes stared at him curiously. He couldn't bring himself to look into them.

"Are . . . are you ok?"

Her voice was a whisper through the door's crack, and it was the first time he had heard it in three days. Since her failed attempt at escape, and their first fight with Harry against those masked men, she had barred herself in her new room at Grimmauld place. She had not come out once, and no one save Ginny had gone in. Sometimes, at night, he would hear her awaken with screams of her own nightmares.

He thought at first to tell her to shove off, but Hermione's nagging voice echoed in his mind. "There's something . . . special about this girl. Otherwise, Sati wouldn't want her. If you want to take down Sati, Draco, you have to become friends with Serah, and find out what it is."

"I . . . I ," his fear evaporated leaving him only feeling weak and subdued. "I will be alright."

"May I enter," she asked with that heavy Spanish accent as Hermione's judging, hating eyes bore through his memory.

"Yes," he sighed and watched as the door opened to show more than those puppy dog eyes.

She stood in the doorway uncertainly for a long moment with a pouting look that threw his emotions into chaos. The soft rays from the moon on her olive skin brought life into the deathly room with its soft glow. Her brown eyes were wide and disarming as they fixated upon him. Her small lips quivered with something she wanted to say, but seemed unable to utter. Her long black hair spilled around her striking face and Draco felt an urge to run his fingers through it.

That was dangerous thinking.

He had thought her pretty from their first meeting, but to find beauty in a Muggle . . . He stopped that thought in case it should hinder this "friendship" Hermione and Leticia wished him to create with her. He brought his legs closer to him accidently knocking what covers remained on the bed onto the floor. She stopped at the edge of his bed, looking timid and unsure of herself.

"I am sorry," she said, her body visibly relaxing with the words she had obviously been wishing to speak for some time, "for getting you hurt. How is your leg?"

He couldn't see the deep scars below the pants, but he knew they were there. The pain no longer existed, but he knew those magical scars always would. "It is better."

He had no desire to speak with her. There was nothing he could think to say to this Muggle, but he couldn't keep his eyes from her. She, on the other hand, seemed unable to glance upon him. She looked about the room, at the windows, at the furniture. At last, she began again, looking past him and not at him.

"So you are . . . a wizard, Ginny tells me."

"Yes," Draco felt strained as he spoke.

"And I . . . I am called, a Muggle. A person born without. . . magic."

"Yes."

"Is that," her voice was a whisper, and Draco watched as something coursed through her. Her fist clenched by her side, tiny, soft things they were. Her swimming brown eyes, dared to meet his gray ones. It was electric, her gaze. "Is that something bad?"

Her boldness disarmed him, especially when she seemed so tiny and shy most of the time. It was the second time she had dared him to tell her how much he hated her, how much he wanted her gone. Those swimming eyes were burning now with curiousity.

Something burned within him. A spark of the hatred he once felt to those who were not pure blood, perhaps. Or, was it spark of hatred for someone else? "To some it is."

"Is it to you?"

Draco said nothing. He had heard Ginny leaving earlier that day. He had heard her speaking just outside the kitchen to Leticia.

"She likes to listen, but she doesn't say much to me," she had told the vampire.

If only she could hear her now.

She turned away from him then, walking to the window on his right where moonlight flooded through. "Have I . . . really gone crazy?"

"What?"

"They locked me up in that asylum . . . no one would believe that vampires exist . . . and now . . . here I am with you. A wizard," she turned those wide eyes back to him and he crumbled under her sincerity, and was unable to look back.

"Maybe," she sighed, "Maybe I have gone crazy."

She turned back to the window, and fell into silence. Draco knew this was his chance, and that he might not get another. The sooner he figured out what Sati wanted with this Muggle, the sooner he could figure out how to stop it. Then he could be rid of this Muggle who was obviously becoming a danger to himself, and his emotions. That was something he had not accounted for before tonight.

"So it is true then," he asked, standing from the bed and being pulled to her without realizing. "That a vampire killed your . . . foster parents?"

She didn't turn to look at him as she answered to her reflection, "Yes, but . . . they said I was . . . crazy . . . traumatized from the event and the . . . torture."

She hugged herself as she pressed her head against the cool glass. He could see from her reflection she was fighting the tears. He had seen that same expression in the deserted girl's bathroom mirrors hundreds of times. It was a battle she was struggling to win, and one he had rarely won. He found himself standing behind her, close enough to be enveloped with her fragrance. It was a mixture of spices and something that could only be compared to sweet pumpkins, but much more pleasant.

"Is it true that Harry is an orphan?"

Draco felt something cold and angry rear its head within him. He didn't know why he was surprised. Even Muggles couldn't miss that Harry was the center of the world, the "chosen one," and all that.

"It's true," he replied lazily stepping away from her. Whatever desire he had felt to be closer to her was now gone, although he hadn't recognized it at first.

"And your parents? Where are they?"

He shrugged, ignoring the stinging in his heart as he pictured their faces. "I don't know."

He leaned against the wall as she turned to watch him curiously. There, in the dark, in the night, her beauty was magnetizing. It attracted him, pulled him in, and he knew he was in danger. She, however, seemed completely unaware. Muggles. Were they really that different? They looked like wizards- they were humans after all. They were just as tall, or short, ugly, or beautiful. Some Muggles were, perhaps, even more beautiful than wizards. His father had warned him about those types.

They didn't possess magic, and to marry a Muggle was to allow that magic to escape the world and their children. That was why Muggles were a true danger. A world without magic, it made him shudder.

"Where are you real parents," he asked.

She shook her head and sighed, "I don't remember them."

Maybe that was why she had been interested in Harry's parents. Even though he had once teased Harry about his lack of parents, threw it up into his face and then rubbed it in, he could not imagine not having parents of his own. All this time they had been on the run had brought him close to knowing what it was like, and he realized he only knew a fraction of Harry's pain. A pain he had once relished in causing.

Now this Muggle, this Serah, stood before him with sad, swimming brown eyes. There was something there too, a longing. She was lonely. He recognized the look because he had seen it in his own eyes.

"How long were you in that hospital," he asked.

"I lost count of the years. I . . . I cannot even remember my own birthday," she sighed and tears were threatening to break through, but she fought them back again, "or even how old I really am . . . When is your birthday?"

"June fifth," he informed her.

He hardly remembered the past birthday, a crudely wrapped gift from Leticia and his parents, and a lot of Dragon's Fire Whiskey.

"They celebrate mine on Halloween," she smiled to the floor, but it was a strained smile.

He realized he had only seen her smile once now, and it had been for the bird. She shifted anxiously from one foot to the other and looked at him. It was clear she was straining under the effort to create a connection wit him. He had a feeling it had to do with guilt. She felt guilty for trying to escape him, an escape that almost got him killed when he was suppose to be "protecting" her.

"My foster parents would wear silly masks and give me candy and presents. Halloween . . . that was the day . . . Sati killed them."

His heart leapt, this was what they had been waiting for. The connection between her and Sati, she had finally told him, even though it obviously pained her. She couldn't meet his eyes again, but he found his inexplicably glued to her. He knew he was an unkind person, he had always been. It was his nature. He had no "skills" to deal with such a thing as delicate as this so he chose to shut his mouth and let her speak; to let her explain what he needed to know.

"She didn't kill me though," she whimpered into the curtains of her hair that hung around her dropped face. "She said I wasn't ready yet. I woke up in the forest bleeding . . . la . . . _la odio_."

Draco didn't know Spanish, but he could guess the last bit was her expressing her hatred for such a creature. She looked back to him, waiting for him to say something. Perhaps she wanted comfort, but she could not find comfort from a . . . from a murderer. He deserved no pity, he knew that much, so to give it was impossible.

"Is that why you are . . . frightened by Leticia?"

"How . . . How can you live with . . . with a monster," she whispered afraid that maybe Leticia was near by, listening.

Draco couldn't help but snicker, and as she glanced at him in adorable curiosity, he couldn't help but laugh. He had called Leticia that word on more than one occasion. "Vampires . . . Vampires need blood to survive- it's true, but they don't make it a habit to feed on humans anymore. Or at least, most do not . . . I hope. Leticia is actually working with Hermione to find a potion that would be better than . . . whatever it is they are eating now."

"So, Leticia doesn't . . . kill," she looked as if she could not possibly believe him.

"Only animals," he said aloud with a shrug. "She has never tasted human blood, nor has anyone in her family. She is . . . a bit annoying though."

She giggled at this. It was a tinkling sound that seemed to fill the entire room as she hid a rare smile behind her hands. He didn't like the way it seem to make him feel lighter, more energized. He didn't like the idea of forming any attachment to this Muggle at all. Yet, he knew he had to get to the bottom of Sati's reasoning for hunting her.

Sati was a killer, a true monster, but it didn't make sense. She had never left her prey alive, and from what he had learned of vampires the younger and purer the blood, the better the taste. She rarely snacked on regular Muggles either. She had a taste for magical blood, including dragon's blood. He knew there had to be more to the story.

"You shouldn't be afraid of Leticia," he informed her and before he realized it he was also telling her, "it's me you should fear."

He could see how his words had extinguished the glinting light in her eyes. She tilted her head, peering at him in confusion. He mentally cursed himself. He sounded like a stupid git in a stupid drama.

"Ginny comes and talks to me. I asked her . . . I asked her to tell me everything about . . . about you."

Blood rushed to her olive cheeks and colored them with the rosy tint of embarrassment. It was, endearing. Draco was relieved that she turned away from him with that adorable look that made his stomach twist.

"She told me that you and Harry were . . . rivals in school. She told me about the war and that you were on the wrong side. Then . . Harry saved you. You saved her. You, and your family . . . stopped fighting. She said family was more important than this . . . Voldemort you were following."

Even though he had been dead for years now, Draco couldn't help but shudder at the sound of that name. The name that destroyed whatever shred of innocence he had once possessed. She turned back to him with a smile. It was a kind, warm smile that left him staggering away from her.

"That does not seem like an evil person to me."

His stomach churned as the vivid memory filled his mind. Dumbledore was before him with that kind face, offering him help, offering him and his family salvation. His own wand was dropping, but it was too late. He had killed Dumbledore. He had brought _them_ into the castle. It was his doing, even if he didn't say the two words that killed him. Dumbledore's voice filled his mind. "You are no assassin Draco."

"You don't know about the things I've done," he informed her with a growl that she either did not notice or chose to ignore.

"Are those the things you have nightmares about," she asked casually.

"It is late," he said to her not truly knowing the time or caring. "You should go back to sleep."

"I . . . I can't sleep," she informed him.

He knew he would not be able to sleep either. He never could after _those_ nightmares. He let out a deep sigh and collapsed into a nearby chair. He felt physically exhausted, his body felt heavy with the strain of chaotic emotions, his head throbbed from lack of rest, and he could not argue with her.

She took his silence as permission and sat on the bed. "Could you tell me about this . . . magic school?"

"Hogwarts?"

"Please."

He let out a sigh as she made herself comfortable on his sheets. She waited patiently with a childish curiosity for him to finally start. He was reluctant to visit the memory of the school where he had led friends to their deaths, led the wrong life, made the wrong decision. Her patient stare was persistent, and he caved in.

"Hogwarts is a giant castle. It is impossible _not_ to get lost with all the towers, secret passageway, and the stair cases that move on their own," he smiled to himself at small memories of wandering those halls, lost most of the time. "There are portraits and pictures hanging on every wall. There are suits of armor that sing songs during Christmas time. The poltergeist, Peeves, he would hide in them and sing ugly words when the armor forgot the words. There are hundreds, and hundreds of students. The sorting hat sorts them into different houses. There are the Hufflepuffs, the Gryffindors, the Ravenclaws, and my house Slytherin. It's under the dungeons and part of the lake. There is a password you have to speak to get in that changes all the time."

She laid on the bed, no longer watching him, but looking past him to the window behind his chair imagining what this place must look like. He didn't know how much she could actually understand, growing up in the boring and plain world of silly Muggles, yet he found himself comforted with the happier memories of the school.

"Every year we take a train to the school where there is a cart full of candy. First years cross the lake with the fa- . . with Hagrid. He's half giant. There's a giant squid in that lake that helps put the children back in the boats if they fall over. Everyone else gets to take the carriages that are pulled by . . . by something invisible to most," he couldn't bear to explain the frightening sight of the corpse like horses that only those who have seen death could see. She would perhaps see them. Quickly he hurried on.

"We had potions classes, charms, history, defense against the dark arts, and astronomy. Sometimes we had balls for dancing. We would go to Hogsmead a few times a year and visit the shops. There's a candy shop with Chocolate Frogs, Acid Pops, Jelly Slugs, and every candy you can imagine. There's the Shrieking Shack where we tried to force first years to go in, saying it was the only way to truly become a true Slytherin."

He snickered at the memories of frightened faces of first years, all which never made it through the door. He couldn't blame them, he never would have entered either. Word was that was where Snape had been murdered. He continued on with fury to push back the sickening feeling that was rising in his throat.

"We played quidditch, I played seeker myself. The entire school came to watch every game. My father bought the entire team new brooms. I would fly around the entire school grounds when I could get away with it. Throughout the year, we tried to gain points for our houses that were counted with rubies colored green. At the end of the year the house with the most points would win the House Cup. Our head master was . . . the potion masters and my . . . favorite teacher."

He slipped into a silence then, unable to go on. For every good memory, there were another hundred shameful, terrible memories. He couldn't bear to continue to resurrect those few good memories he had, and accidently wander into parts of the past he didn't wish to revisit. He turned his attention back to the Muggle girl after several minutes, to find she had rolled her back to him and fallen asleep.

Her steady breathing told him she was deep in her slumbers, probably dreaming her own version of the school and stories he had told her. He looked at her with envy, wishing he could sleep as peacefully as she was, but then something caught his eye.

Her nightshirt had ruffled in the middle from her rolling onto her side, and had exposed a small patch of skin on her back. Instead of smooth, olive skin like what he would expect, there were scars. They were a shinny white against her olive skin, and slightly rose from her skin. He found himself crossing the room to get a better look.

Something about them unnerved him, made him feel panicked. They were magical scars, something like the one Harry wore on his forehead like a metal of honor. He pulled the back of her shirt up gently, just enough to expose a few more inches of skin. His heart was thudding in his ear as he stared in horror, panic, and disbelief.

From what he could see the scars on her back spread across the skin, and behind the remaining, covering fabric. They weren't random scars, they were some type of foreign writings. Cuneiform shapes he could not decipher that ran down her back in perfect lines telling a story of horror and pain.

He dropped the shirt and reached for her back collar in fear. He pulled it down enough to expose the skin of her back from the top, and found more. He pulled at her sleeves, exposing a new part of her back. In horror, he found more scars, magical scars, like the one he knew was permanently etched into his leg; like the ones Harry had left on his chest and stomach their sixth year.

He stepped back in disbelief.

_I woke up in the forest bleeding._

Had Sati done this to her? Why? What did this mean?

Unnerved, and unsure why he felt so, he had to leave the room. It was nearing dawn, and he couldn't help but pace the rooms and the kitchens in annoyance. Her entire back was carved into. If he asked her to show him and Harry a better look of those scars, how would she react? It wasn't a place a man should be looking at without a female's permission, so how would she feel if she knew he had seen them? Would she close herself up when she had finally opened up to him? If Sati had done this, Leticia might be able to decipher their meanings, but would Serah allow her to look? Maybe Ginny could convince her, or even Hermione? Then again, maybe he was wrong and they weren't magical scars at all, he wasn't the brightest in school. Would she show Hermione?

His head ran these questions through his mind in circles and circles until it was well past dawn and his house elf had prepared his food that had gone cold. He had forced himself to change clothes when Serah had come down into the kitchen, finally away from her room. She had wished him a sleepy good morning, but did not seem as eager to talk as earlier.

He didn't leave his room until Layla informed him of Ginny's arrival. He raced down stairs to meet her. "Ginny!"

She looked up from her conversation with Serah, to stare at him in surprise. "Draco."

He paused in the doorway of the kitchen, glancing at Serah. Both of the women waited for him to say something and he felt tiny beneath their stares. "May I speak with you in private."

Ginny started to protest, he could tell by the sharp angle of her eyebrows, but said nothing when Serah silently excused herself. He watched in silence as she made her way up the stairs and disappeared around the corner. He waited until he heard the door shut.

He reentered the room and found Ginny watching the spot where Serah had disappeared. "How did you get her out of her room?"

"I don't know, look I have something I need to tell you, but I'm waiting for Leticia to arrive," he told her in a low voice.

She nodded and they waited in an awkward silence that was interrupted by the sound of a ripping fabric, a sharp pop, and a knock on the door. Layla wasted no time in answering the door and allowing Harry Potter and Leticia to enter the house. Once they had joined Draco and Ginny in the small sitting room, Draco began.

"Last night, Serah finally told me who the vampire was that killed her foster parents. Sati!"

"So our suspicions were right," Harry followed Draco's lead and spoke in a low voice.

"She didn't get to the Muggle, so she came back to finish the job," Leticia assumed.

"I don't think so," Draco shook his head. "There's something else. I noticed that she has . . . scars on her entire back, magical scars. They seem to be words, ancient symbols or something. I think maybe Sati had something to do with it. She mentioned being . . . tortured."

He found disgust in that word, and he could tell they were troubled by what he said. Ginny exchanged glances with Harry. "We need to see them."

"Maybe if Sati put them there, you could decipher them," Harry told Leticia.

"Serah will never let Leticia see them," Draco informed them, and found a look of surprise on all their faces that he had to ignore. "You frighten her, being vampire and all."

"Draco has a point," Leticia sighed. "Maybe one of you could take a picture of it?"

"Draco," Ginny said. "Maybe you could get her to show you again."

Draco felt blood rushing to his cheeks against his will. "Well, uh, she didn't exactly _show_ them too me. You see, she fell asleep in my room and I just, uh, happened to notice them. I didn't see them _all._"

He didn't like the sly look on Leticia's face and the smug smirk, nor the looks Ginny and Harry exchanged. Ginny let out a long sigh and said, "If we force her to show us, she will not trust us. She will shut us out and it will be all the much harder to find out the truth."

"We will figure something out," Harry sighed. "Maybe we should get her out of the house, maybe to one of your quidditch games? That might help her open up."

"It's a start," Leticia sighed. "I'll stay on Sati's trail. I think I have Sebastian located, and I know she's with him."

She nodded at them, before she ripped the air around her and disappeared. Ginny was looking at Draco, "She will only go if you go with her."

"I can't go to a Quidditch game," he sneered. "I have work to do."

"Don't worry about it," Harry informed him, and Draco was greatly annoyed. "Hermione has a lead on those people that attacked us. I'm going to check it out, if we need you we will let you –"

"No you don't Harry Potter," Draco snapped. "You're not taking over this whole operation! Sati has been my top priority since I started!"

Harry glared at him. He didn't seem surprise at Draco's change of tone. "Your priority now is getting information from Serah-"

"You're not my boss! You can't give orders-"

"We are partners, that means we have to work together-"

"Which is why I'm going with you to follow this lead-"

"And leave Serah alone to be attacked again-"

"If you are so worried about protecting her why don't you stay? You defeated the Dark Lord, what's a simple vampire?"

"She doesn't want me to go, she wants _you_!"

"Enough!"

They both turned to see Ginny standing, glaring at them. "Serah will not leave this house without you Draco, she told me that much herself! So you are going to go with her. If Sati is really after her, well she will come after her. If you are with her, then she will be delivering herself to you and you will have your chance. End of discussion! Now Harry, go!"

Draco shot one more defiant, hating glance in Harry's direction. Harry own face was contorted into a glare, before he disappeared with a loud pop. Now, with him gone, Draco was aware of the faint twinkling melody of piano keys from above them.

The music that floated down from above grew in melody and pitch. He couldn't help but listen to its soft melody.

"Serah told me she's been wanting a piano. When did you have one put in her room?"

She looked at Draco, clearly hoping the change of subject would make him forget his current anger at her husband, but it didn't. Draco growled, "I don't know what you are talking about."

A smug smirk that told him she didn't believe him, annoyed him. He stomped away from her, shouting, "Serah!"

The piano stopped and a few seconds later her head peered around the corner over the stair's banister, "Yes?"

"We are going to a Quidditch game. Put on you robes! If I have to go, we are not going in regular Muggle clothes! Understand?"

Something of excitement and curiosity flashed in her eyes, before she disappeared.

"Well you handled that smoothly," Ginny teased from behind.

"Quiet you," he said threateningly.

She giggled, amused with his frustration, before walking up the stairs to knock on Serah's room.

* * *

I was thinking about deleting my ffnet account, and then this chapter just came out :D Thanks to my twin for betaing! YOUR THE BEST DAYLIGHTER


End file.
